The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 411 Chapter 410
In March of Yangchun, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and the warm sun shines on the earth, but above Pengcheng, there are layers of invisible clouds gathering.

At this time, the Yanwang Mansion was also in a tense atmosphere. Yang Biao, Zhang Zhao, Chen Qun, Dong Zhao, Gu Yong, Wang Lang, Bing Yuan, Hua Xin and others all arrived in the meeting hall of Yan Wang Mansion one after another, quietly Waiting for Zhang Yan's arrival.

They were all important figures in the imperial court. As soon as King Yan returned to Pengcheng, he immediately summoned them, which made them a little bit apprehensive. They didn't know why King Yan summoned them so urgently, so they couldn't help whispering After a while.

However, no one has said why.

After a while, Zhang Yan came out from the back hall, and the originally noisy meeting hall suddenly became quiet.

Zhang Yan sat in the top seat with a golden sword, looked around at all the officials present, and said immediately: "I am in such a hurry to summon you here today, because I have a few important things to discuss with you. I hope that everyone can actively offer suggestions and suggestions, know everything, and talk endlessly."

After a pause, Zhang Yan glanced at Chen Qun and said, "Sinong, please give us an overview of our current situation!"

"Here!"

Chen Qun stood up, first bowed to Zhang Yan, then bowed his hands to everyone present, and then spoke, using the most concise words to summarize the current situation, that is, the treasury is empty, and it has reached the point where it cannot make ends meet .

After hearing this, the officials were all stunned.Because with the continuous expansion of the territory of influence, Zhang Yan's personal prestige has also reached the top. How could he have no money after occupying such a vast land?

However, Chen Qun's summary is clear and straightforward. In recent years, there are no more than three places that have spent the most money. One is military expenditures, the other is construction expenditures, and the third is the salary expenditures of officials at all levels.

Among all the expenses, the construction expenses, military expenses, and officials' salaries ranked first, which together accounted for less than one-tenth of the construction expenses.

Because every time Zhang Yan occupied a place, what he was left with was either devastated or a mess, and the people were even more displaced and homeless.

Therefore, Zhang Yan had to start construction again. In the past year alone, there were 110 six counties where Zhang Yan instructed the construction of new county towns. According to the actual situation of each county, the construction instructed by Zhang Yan The cost is different, but in any case, the money is paid out of the state treasury.

On the other hand, there are too many tax-free areas, and only some counties and counties in Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou actually collect taxes. These taxes are not directly proportional to the expenditure of the entire national treasury. All of them have been exhausted, and the national treasury is still negative. The construction funds of dozens of counties have also been cut off, and they are temporarily in a state of suspension.

For this reason, Chen Qun made a special trip to Hebei, severely punished a group of rich gentry who violated laws and regulations, confiscated some rich gentry's property, and poured all of them into the national treasury.But the money obtained from these house raids was not enough to fill the loopholes. For this reason, Chen Qun raised funds in various places in Hebei, but with little success. Even his original intention of building canals in Hebei to irrigate the farmland had to be abandoned. , and finally returned to Pengcheng in despair.

In short, this time Zhang Yan gathered many important officials in the court to discuss here, all for one thing only, that is to see who has a way to make money.

However, everyone sat there for a long time, and although they also put forward some opinions, they were finally overruled by Zhang Yan. A group of people sat there with sad faces, unable to think of any countermeasures.

At this time, Zhang Zhao said to Zhang Yan: "His Royal Highness, Xuzhou Mu Mizhu has been in business for generations, with a family fortune of hundreds of millions, and is an expert at making money. Why didn't the King of Yan summon him to Pengcheng to inquire about countermeasures? Maybe Mi Zhu can give you a solution." His Royal Highness King Yan might have a solution!"

A word to wake up the dreamer, Zhang Yan suddenly realized that this group of high-ranking officials were all Confucian scholars, and they had the ability to deal with political affairs, but when it came to how to make money, asking them was tantamount to asking them for nothing.

Therefore, Zhang Yan announced the adjournment of the meeting and asked all the ministers to go back first and think about the countermeasures. Three days later, he summoned everyone again.

On the other hand, Zhang Yan was dressed in a strong suit, pulled out the white dragon horse from the stable, jumped on the horse's back, rode the white dragon horse out of Pengcheng, and galloped towards Tancheng.

Pengcheng is only a hundred miles away from Tancheng, and the white dragon horse is a bloody horse that travels thousands of miles a day. Zhang Yan soon arrived in Tancheng.

Tancheng is the state city of Xuzhou. Before the rise of Pengcheng, Tancheng was the largest city in Xuzhou. There were many shops in the city and the business was developed. It was the largest commercial base in Xuzhou. No matter how famous it is, it is still an important commercial base in the Pan-Pengcheng area, and Mu Mizhu of Xuzhou is a businessman, and he can manage business from the perspective of a businessman, so many merchants still like to come to Tancheng for transactions, and the business atmosphere is not bad. It didn't decrease, but decreased a lot.

If Pengcheng is the largest city in Xuzhou integrating politics, military affairs, and economy, then Tancheng is a commercial city mainly based on economy, and the prosperity of the city far exceeds Pengcheng.

Zhang Yan rode his horse and galloped wildly. After arriving in Tancheng, he slowed down. Before entering Tancheng, he could feel the commercial atmosphere of the city along the way. Merchants gathered along the way, and caravans transporting goods were also in an endless stream.

The official road leading to Tancheng has already been rebuilt with cement. It is flat, clean and wide, and it also left an excellent impression on people who came to this city.

Zhang Yan was among the crowd of merchants and came to the city of Tancheng. The city in front of him gave him a refreshing feeling. He hadn't been to Tancheng for about three years. During these three years, Tancheng had undergone earth-shaking changes. , It is no longer the city of Tao Qian's time. The city of Tan in front of him is twice the size of the original city, and it has been expanded on the basis of the original city, but still retains the original city walls. Within the scope, it has become a commercial port with many shops, while the original city has become the inner city. All commercial activities are only carried out in the outer city, and the inner city is a residential area and a place for government offices. Within a corner of the west of the city, this area is a unique military control area, and no one is allowed to approach it without the order of the state pastor.

The expanded city walls of Tancheng are also different from the old inner city walls. Most of the inner city walls are made of huge bluestones, but the newly expanded city walls follow the example of Pengcheng and are built with reinforced concrete. Cement irrigation can be regarded as the most incisive and vivid display of the modern technology that Zhang Yan used to build Pengcheng back then. The city is solid, and the outside has been painted again.

The roads in the city have been repaired with cement, and even the construction of houses is basically based on cement.Entering this city was like entering a strange world. In just three short years, Zhang Yan was somewhat surprised by the development of Tancheng.

After Zhang Yan entered Tancheng, he went straight to Mi Zhu's mansion. He was familiar with the road, and soon arrived at Mi Mansion. The servants of Mi Mansion saw Zhang Yan's arrival, and immediately went in to inform Mi Zhu.

Mi Zhu hurriedly came out to greet him, but he didn't want to see Zhang Yan coming, so he immediately bowed down, but was supported by Zhang Yan, who was quick-sighted and quick-handed, and said to Mi Zhu: "Brother, you don't have to do this. Today there is only Zhang Yan, and there is no King Yan." !"

Mi Zhu naturally obeyed his orders, so he welcomed Zhang Yan into the mansion, ordered people to prepare a banquet, and gave Zhang Yan the seat.

On the contrary, Zhang Yan didn't want to sit down. He just sat face to face with Mi Zhu. He felt that sitting like this was much more intimate.

"His Royal Highness King Yan paid a sudden visit, is there something urgent?" Mi Zhu asked.

Zhang Yan smiled and said: "Does it have to be something urgent to come to see brother? As I said just now, today there is only Zhang Yan, no King Yan, you are my brother and I am your brother-in-law, so don't be restrained. "

Having said that, Zhang Yan is the King of Yan after all. Although Mi Zhu nodded, he still called Zhang Yan the King of Yan.

After the food and wine were served, Zhang Yan chatted casually with Mi Zhu for a while, and when talking about the expansion of Tancheng, Zhang Yan asked, "When did my brother expand Tancheng? Why didn't I see it in the memorial?"

Mi Zhu said: "Because I didn't give a performance, the population of Tancheng has been increasing in the past few years. The original city is a bit small, and the circle of people's life is also small. Expansion of Tancheng is even more imminent, so I raised some money from merchants. , used to expand Tancheng, and specially opened up a commercial area for these merchants for their operation."

"What did I say! I see that my brother used cement to build new cities and repair roads. It seems that my brother is quite talented in building cities!"

"These are all thanks to the king of Yan. Didn't the king of Yan use the cement first? Moreover, when the king of Yan built Pengcheng, he also used a technique called reinforced concrete. The Pengcheng he built was extremely strong. I just followed the gourd. It’s just a painting ladle.”

Zhang Yan started laughing, changed the topic, and got to the point. After taking a sip of the mulled wine, his expression became slightly melancholy.

Seeing this, Mi Zhu hurriedly asked, "His Royal Highness, is there something on your mind?"

"Well, in front of my brother, I have nothing to hide. In fact, I came this time to find my brother. I hope my brother can give me some advice." Zhang Yan said.

Mi Zhu cupped his fists and said, "If King Yan has any difficulties, I will definitely do my best to help!"

Zhang Yandao: "Now the national treasury is empty, we can't make ends meet, and the income and expenditure gap is getting bigger and bigger. My brother is a businessman and is very good at doing business. I wonder if my brother can point out some ways for me to make money so as to make up for the tax gap and enrich my income. treasury?"

(End of this chapter)