If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 342 How to Spend Money
Having money is a very important thing, both for an individual and for a country.

Since the concept of money was born, humans can no longer live without it.

No matter what you want to do, or to maintain the operation of your family or country, you cannot do without money.

When ordinary people have money, they can eat well, buy beautiful clothes or something they like, improve their lives, and invest it to get more money...

When a country has money, it can strengthen its infrastructure, develop the national economy and people's livelihood, and enhance its military armament, so that the overall national strength of the entire country can be improved and the country can become prosperous and strong.

This is true regardless of whether it is ancient or modern, both at home and abroad.

For the era of the Ming Dynasty, when the court had money, it could organize fleets to sail to the Western Seas seven times and conquer Mobei five times. It could expand its territory and build a huge territory that had never been seen in ancient times. It could build a country. This all-encompassing book is the most extraordinary book from ancient to modern times, achieving the immortal achievements of a generation of emperors...

And if the court has no money, it will be in arrears even with the royal family's salary and soldiers' pay. The emperor's collection of taxes will be opposed by both the government and the public. If he wants to suppress the border troubles, he will be humiliated by the courtiers, and he will eventually be hanged on a tree with a crooked neck in humiliation... …

It can be said that for a country, money is really important.

So when Xia Yuanji said that the court could get 1000 million taels of silver from sea trade every year, everyone was really shocked.

"Xia Shangshu, are you telling the truth? I checked the history books of the Song Dynasty a few days ago, and it was recorded that during the Song Dynasty, Shibo Company only made a profit of 100 million yuan a year. How come you have increased it ten times now? Could it be that you, Xia Shangshu, Is he really the God of Wealth, with the ability to multiply profits tenfold?" Zhu Gaochi was extremely shocked by Xia Yuanji's words and couldn't help but ask.

Faced with Zhu Gaochi's disbelieving look, Xia Yuanji raised his hands and said, "Your Highness, your Royal Highness, the Shipping Department made a profit of 100 million yuan a year in the Song Dynasty. That was the tax collected by the Shipping Department, and it did not include the shipping tax at that time. profit from trade.

The policies of the Ming Dynasty are different from those of the Song Dynasty. Although the Municipal Shipping Department still only collects taxes, the imperial court has a fleet of ships to engage in Southeast Asian trade, and the profits gained from this are naturally considerable.

Moreover, when doing business, the higher the capital, the more profits you can make. Like last time, the court made a profit of 400 million taels from sea trade, precisely because the court was able to spend so much money at once to acquire businesses on the market. The source of goods, and then the ability to transport all the goods to Nanyang and sell them at a lucrative price, can make so much profit.

Regardless of the fact that the Ministry of Revenue only spent 20 taels of silver at that time, it actually included cargo transportation, warehousing, and the fleet itself to and from Nanyang. Even after the fleet arrived in Nanyang, it relied on the official name of the imperial court to successfully sell the goods at a high price. This The cost involved in the entire process is far beyond what the 20 taels of silver can stop.

The 20 taels of silver is only the value of the goods, not the total cost invested by the Ministry of Revenue in this trade.

Because of this, of course there are businessmen who can come up with 20 taels of silver. There are even big businessmen who can come up with 20 taels of silver without a few co-workers. There are also big businessmen in the Ming Dynasty who can run such a large business. But there was none.

Because of this, they cannot make as much as 400 million taels at a time like the imperial court.

In addition, the imperial court has been banning the sea before, and now it is trying to open up the sea ban. The taxes that the city shipping company can collect are limited. If the imperial court does not personally run the business, the taxes the city shipping company can collect every year are limited. As long as you can have two to three million taels, that's the end of it. "

After hearing Xia Yuanji's explanation, Zhu Gaochi and several other ministers showed expressions of sudden realization.

However, they didn't care how Xia Yuanji earned so much money. What they focused on was how to spend the money since the Ministry of Accounts had so much money.

"Your Majesty, since the Ministry of Household Affairs' finances are so full this year, the imperial court should attach great importance to education. The Ministry of Rites has applied for the allocation of 200 million taels of silver to build more social schools across the country, so that more people in the Ming Dynasty can be literate and understand the truth!" Lu Zhen was the first to speak, intending to take a bite out of the ridiculously generous budget of the Ministry of Finance today.

The Ministry of Industry followed suit and immediately stated that it would start the major project of reopening the Sui Canal in accordance with Zhu Zhankun's proposal. This year, it planned to invest 400 million taels of silver in river affairs.

Seeing that the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry had almost eaten half of it, the remaining Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of War also spoke up one after another, saying that they had big plans today and needed the court to allocate a sum of money.

Almost in the blink of an eye, more than 1000 million taels of silver, which Xia Yuanji thought was too much to spend, were completely divided up by the other five ministers, and the five ministers were still talking to each other as if they didn't have enough money. Arguing about getting more from colleagues.

"Enough! What a noise! ​​My Qianqing Palace is not a place for you to quarrel!" Zhu Di scolded dissatisfiedly, and after shutting up all the ministers, he turned to look at Zhu Zhan in the water mirror. Zhan, asked him: "Zhan Yu, this money was basically obtained according to your method. How do you think the money should be spent? Grandpa wants to hear your opinion."

Hearing what Zhu Di said, both the Six Ministers and Zhu Gaochi turned their attention to him, wanting to see what good ideas this His Highness Prince Zheng, who always had extraordinary performance, had.

Faced with the question thrown by Zhu Di, Zhu Zhanqi was not in a hurry. He thought for a while and said: "It is a good thing for the court to have money, but this money cannot be spent casually. Each ministry cannot say that it will use the money next year. The Ministry just allocates money. This is not a good system.

I think the court can take this opportunity to sort out how much money the court spends every year, where the money is spent, and how it is spent.

Just like ordinary people would make a list of how much they earn and spend in a month, and then see how much money they spent this month, which money should be spent and which money should not be spent, the imperial court should also have an account and spend money. Money also needs to be more planned. "This is a good suggestion, but the accounts department always has a ledger, right?" "Although Zhu Di behaves like he only cares about fighting most of the time, in fact, as an emperor, he is well aware of the government affairs of the court, but he usually leaves them to the prince to take care of. He doesn't need to worry about it, so he just acts like he doesn't care. .

In response to Zhu Di's rhetorical question, Zhu Zhanquan just made an indifferent expression, glanced at Xia Yuanji and then said: "The accounts of the Ministry of Accounts are the accounting after the expenditures. Although each department has a budget of how much to spend, This budget is very rough and is just a rough estimate.

Just like Lu Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites said just now that he wanted to establish a social school and asked the court to allocate 200 million taels of silver. I dare say that this was just a temporary idea and he did not consider how to spend the money. "

Zhu Zhanju's words made Lu Zhen's face feel hot, but considering that this was a major matter related to how much money the Ministry of Rites would receive next year, he still shamelessly pretended not to hear it.

However, Xia Yuanji intervened: "I would like to remind Your Highness that our Ministry of Household Affairs actually has a budget. Each department reports the money it needs to spend. The Ministry of Household Affairs has a special department to calculate the applications of each department and list the details.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty established three divisions in order to disperse the financial power of the Shangshu Province. The chiefs of the three divisions and the three envoys were nicknamed Ji Xiang, and they were responsible for formulating various budgets.

In the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Gao abolished the prime minister system, and this part of the financial power was transferred to our Department of Accounts. Therefore, the Department of Accounts does not only have accounts for spending, but this account is also detailed to how every penny is spent, and No, Your Highness, you are just making a rough account to fool me. "

Having said this, Xia Yuanji turned to look at his colleagues in the other five departments, and said with some humor: "If the departments are really fooling with rough accounts, then I, Lao Xia, will take them back and redo them."

Hearing what Xia Yuanji said, Zhu Zhanjun didn't care about it, and just continued: "This is a misunderstanding of Xia Shangshu because he didn't understand the situation. However, this budget system should indeed establish a complete set of project establishment, review and supervision mechanism.

Just like what Lu Shangshu said just now, the imperial court will allocate funds to establish social schools. If this matter needs to be established, the Ministry of Rites should draw up a list, which should state clearly how many social schools the Ministry of Rites plans to establish and the estimated cost of each social school. How much money is needed to build it? How much of it is the cost of building materials, how much of it is the cost of labor, how much of it is the cost of maintaining the operation of the social school, etc...

This includes not only how much money each item will cost and how many servants will be used, but also what court agencies need to be coordinated, how long the overall construction period will be, and what kind of effects and expectations can be achieved in the end.

After listing clearly, they will be reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs for review. The Ministry of Household Affairs will calculate these expenditure items based on the list reported by the Ministry of Rites, and confirm whether there are any unreasonable expenditures, and whether the expected results and benefits are worthy of the court's investment. Rich.

You can't say that if I go to the Mongols to rob a sheep, I have to use a hundred thousand troops, right?For social studies, should you use pine, elm, beech or camphor wood for the tables, chairs and benches?
Although sociology wouldn’t say using some rotten wood or something like that, we can’t quote the cost of ebony, wenge or even rosewood, right?
In addition, are the materials and materials used nearby collected and planned?You can't build a sociology school in Anhui and have to transport materials from Nanjing, right?What is the price of bricks and timber in Anhui and is there any difference between the price of bricks and timber in Nanjing?
These are all things that the Ministry of Revenue needs to find out during the review. For unreasonable and problematic parts, the Ministry of Revenue will ask the Ministry of Rites to explain and revise them clearly. Only when there are no problems can the budget be passed and reported to the emperor for approval. Approval.

After the emperor's approval, all the funds requested in the budget cannot be allocated to the Ministry of Rites at once. Instead, a portion will be allocated first based on the Ministry of Rites' declaration, and the remaining funds will be allocated based on the completion progress of the Ministry of Rites.

Moreover, after the money is allocated to the Ministry of Rites, someone must supervise it to prevent the Ministry of Rites from misappropriating the money for other purposes. The funds must be earmarked for specific purposes.

Of course, this is also for the benefit of the Ministry of Rites. If there is a deviation between the actual money spent and the budget, the Ministry of Rites must report it in time and adjust the declared part of the budget to avoid unnecessary waste or shortage of funds.

For the same reason, the Ministry of Rites should also reserve some flexibility for itself when making a budget, taking into account factors such as changes in the price of goods on the market. "

Zhu Zhanchun talked a lot. Although it sounds very complicated and very similar to the budget system implemented by the imperial court now, I have to say that the method proposed by Zhu Zhanchun is better than the original budget system. More perfect.

Neither Liubu Shangshu nor Zhu Gaochi was a vegetarian, so after hearing it, they both quickly agreed with Zhu Zhancheng's suggestion.

And this is not a major change, it is just a better improvement on the original policy, so as long as the emperor and the six ministries approve it, it can be implemented directly.

"In this case, as for how to spend the new revenue of the imperial court, each ministry should prepare a budget and report it! The Ministry of Rites said that social studies should be repaired, the Ministry of Works said that canals should be opened, the Ministry of War said that armaments should be updated, and the Ministry of Personnel said that To subsidize official salaries, even the Ministry of Punishment said it would increase expenditures!" After listening to the discussion between Zhu Gaochi and several ministers, Zhu Di finally made a decision: "Since you want the court to allocate funds, then go back as Zhan Yun said. Make a budget and submit it to the Ministry of Accounts for review. As long as the Ministry of Accounts says the money should be spent, then spend it! But if the Ministry of Accounts says the money should not be spent, then don't call me out, let alone come to me to plead and complain!"

It seemed that he had money in his pocket, and Zhu Di's tone of voice was a little different, as if he was a wealthy landlord who had suddenly become rich.

"In addition, since the imperial court has money, let's build the canal according to Zhanju's suggestion! I still remember that when Huang Kao and my eldest brother were still there, I once considered moving the capital to Kaifeng, but it was a pity that my eldest brother died of illness at that time. In addition, the people's livelihood in Kaifeng is no longer the same as it was in the Song Dynasty, so the matter of moving the capital will be abandoned." Zhu Di seemed to have remembered the old events of the Hongwu Dynasty again for some reason, and while recalling the past, he did not forget to say: "Now if I can By restoring Kaifeng to its former glory, I can also comfort Huang Kao and my eldest brother’s spirit in heaven! So the Ministry of Industry will do a good job, and the court will not short-change your Ministry of Industry’s money and food, and the Ministry of Industry will also allow me to see results in my lifetime!”

"I obey the decree!" Song Li quickly lowered his head.

Song Li didn't know whether the old Sui Canal could be reopened in Zhu Di's lifetime to restore the economy and people's livelihood in Kaifeng and other places, but he knew that if he said no now, the Minister of Industry would be the end of him.

So Song Li did not hesitate and quickly accepted Zhu Di's order.

However, Song Li was not completely unsure. Although this project was huge and the results were uncertain, at least the imperial court could have such a large budget, which was the greatest good news for the Ministry of Industry he was in charge of. He also had enough confidence to repair the canal.

(End of this chapter)