Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 775 Financial crisis and Liao civil strife

Accompanied by Xu Xuan for a while, Ye Chen walked towards the gate of the college. When he passed the playground where the students used to run in the morning, he suddenly thought of football, and thought that daily study was too boring.A group of young men were locked in the yard, and he could smell the secretion of hormones just now.If you don't guide them, there will be problems.He smiled and said, "Make two Cuju courts that are the same as those in the teaching team's training base, and the rules are the same as theirs. Let these students who are too energetic and always want to fight to vent on the Cuju courts."

Xu Xuan was taken aback, and quickly wrote it down, and immediately implemented it when he turned around.

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After Ye Chen left, Xu Xuan vacated a hall as a debate hall, and set one day out of every seven days for debate.

Since then, this day has become the happiest "holiday" for scholars and people who like to watch the excitement in Xiangfu country. They wait for this day every seven days to create a new topic for conversation.When people in teahouses and restaurants sit down, they are mostly talking about what was discussed in the last "debate day", and what new debates will be in the next "debate day".

The topic of debate gradually expanded from geography to physics, chemistry, biology, and even Confucianism. "It's not appropriate to say", this clear-cut attitude is very much appreciated by the important officials in the court.Of course, fights have gradually disappeared since then. Although there are still occasional arguments, in the end the argument is not a quarrel, but one side put down a sentence, "I will convince you in the debate".Then he snorted coldly, looked up and left.

It stands to reason that Ye Chen has experienced the freedom of speech in later generations, so he should let go of students' discussions and debates about the gains and losses of the government.But Ye Chen knows very well that the eyes of most people and the angle of judging right from wrong will always only consider their own interests. In fact, in most cases, the eyes of the people are not sharp. This is the case for future generations with such a high proportion of higher education. In this Xiangfu country where less than one percent of the educated, less than one-thousandth of people who leave their hometown have certain knowledge, and less than one-tenth of ten thousandth of experience in governance, the eyes of the people will be sharp. of?This is absolutely impossible, such people can easily be misled and used by people with intentions to do some stupid things, and Ye Chen's sworn enemy Sanctuary is best at these things, not to mention that Song and Liao, the two great powers in the world, have also It is Ye Chen's sworn enemy.

Therefore, Ye Chen must firmly control the direction of public opinion of newspapers and college students from the very beginning, so as to make it a powerful tool for governing the country.

Yet once this spark of debate and freedom has been planted, it is simply impossible to contain it.If scholars are idle and have nothing to do, there is no one who does not like to discuss, and it is simply impossible for intellectuals not to talk about politics.In fact, the private debate on government affairs did not happen in Xiangfu Academy, but it does not mean that it did not happen elsewhere. Naturally, these things could not be hidden from the eyes of the Security Department in charge of Hu Sanguang, and Ye Chen naturally knew about it.In the end, Ma Wentao, Li Junhao, and even Kou Zhun all explained these behaviors directly in front of Ye Chen, or euphemistically, making Ye Chen feel that it is not appropriate to guard against the mouths of the people, and made him feel that it is not useless to find out the problem through debate.

In addition, in addition to Ye Chen's two special methods of debates and newspapers, Xu Xuan and the sub-dean of the college have created another feature for the college. The day before the "debate day", invite the great Confucianists and famous Many inventors and polymaths come to give lectures, and this day is also called "Lecture Day".On every lecture day, the students of the college must go to the lecture in the morning and rest in the afternoon.And at this time, Confucian scholars from Xiangfu Kingdom would often come to observe, and it seemed like they were attending a temple fair next to the college.

These are things for later, so I won't say much for now.

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When Ye Chen returned to Xia Jing, he didn't have time to meet Yu Daoxiang, because Hu Sanguang, Han Xizai, Ma Wentao, Li Junhao, Yang Jiye, Jia Xian, Bai Canghai and others who were qualified to participate in the Xiaochaohui had already been waiting for him for a long time.Although Xiangfu Kingdom is not big, it has a total of thirteen prefectures, 79 counties, and twelve military camps, as well as the large and small Dangxiang, Tubo, Qiang, Tu and other tribes that have been attached but have not yet been naturalized.The population is only over 400 million, but there are many matters that require Ye Chen to make decisions every day or even every hour.Ye Chen's private visit to Weibo lasted only twenty days, but the accumulated memorials waiting for approval piled up like a hill.

"Your Majesty, according to your instructions, I have sent someone to inform the Ministry of Security in the Liao Kingdom's stronghold of the Liao Kingdom's massacre of the royal family because of Xiao Chuo, and let them spread the news before Xiao Chuo did it. Now the Liao Kingdom Zheng Wang Yelu Han Ye and Chu King Yelulu led some tribes loyal to the royal family to launch mutinies in Xijing Road and Ulan Bator respectively, and have actually controlled the local roads, prefectures, and prefectures. The former has about [-] troops, and the latter has about [-] troops. Based on Xiao Chuo's strength, I estimate that they won't last long." Hu Sanguang said first.

These are all expected things, Ye Chen is not too surprised, what he cares about is how long can the Liao rebels last?And do you want to send an army to respond?

Because this time Yu Daoxiang and Shangguan Bingyun made a big fuss in Shangjing of Liao Kingdom, it can be said that new enmity and old enmity have been added, and Xiao Chuo has been completely offended.After Xiao Chuo pacified the country, it was only a matter of time before he sent troops to Xiangfu Kingdom.That being the case, Ye Chen would naturally not let go of an opportunity to weaken the Liao Kingdom.So, he immediately asked: "Hu Sanguang, I asked you to contact the rebels and try to give them some assistance, or we can meet Yelu Hanye and Yelulu when we see the opportunity, how is this going?"

Hu Sanguang said: "Your Majesty, I have sent people to contact Yelu Hanye and Yelu Lu, and successfully reached an alliance agreement with them. Yelu Hanye is on Xijing Road, bordering the Hengshan Wilderness of Dangxiang Bashi, and wants us to send troops to help Or send troops to contain the army of Datong Mansion who are close to them. Yelulu is located in Ulan Bator, and asked us to give them [-] sets of armor, [-] swords and guns, [-] gunpowder packs, and [-] stone mines. The minister is asking for help today Your Majesty asks for instructions on this."

Ye Chen said without hesitation: "Our Xiangfu Kingdom and Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Kingdom have a deadly feud. Once the civil strife in Liao Dynasty is settled, Xiao Chuo will definitely send troops to our Xiangfu Kingdom. The so-called 'enemy's enemy is our ally' ', so Yelu Hanye and Yelulu agreed to all requests. According to my will, the Military Shuttle Department immediately issued a military order to let the Zhelan Army and the Xuanwu Army advance fifty miles to the Liao border, and made a gesture of sending troops into the country to contain the Liao Kingdom as much as possible. In addition, immediately prepare [-] sets of armor, [-] swords, and [-] spears and send them to Yelu Hanye and Yelu Lu. As for the gunpowder packs and stone mines, they will not use them. Yes, mobilize the White Wolf Army An engineering company and the Black Wolf Army each took [-] gunpowder packs and [-] stone mines, followed the equipment sent to them, and secretly went to the two Liao rebels to provide support. The connection with the other party and the marching route plan were determined by the security It is formulated by the Ministry. All preparations must be completed within two days and arrive within half a month."

Yang Jiye and Hu Sanguang respectfully said yes.

At this time, Jia Xian came out of the shift and said: "His Majesty, now the Ministry of Agriculture wants to promote wind-powered waterwheels across the country, and the budget needs to consume more than 100. Local taxation alone is not enough for the people to use their surplus grain to fill official warehouses. It is estimated that the Ministry of Household Affairs will subsidize 20 million taels to various localities. The construction of junior Mongolian schools in various states and counties has already cost more than 170 million taels of silver. His Majesty also said before the private visit However, it would cost 130 taels of silver to lay concrete roads in all the streets and alleys of Xiajing City that have not been paved with stone slabs. In a word, the treasury of the Ministry of Households now has another financial crisis in addition to paying the army and officials military salaries."

Ye Chen couldn't help but frown. Now Xiangfu Country's financial revenue is mainly divided into three major items.In the hands of the Ministry of Households, 300% of the money earned by merchants scattered in Song, Liao, Dali, and the Western Regions accounted for 300% of the money. After being hit hard by the Song Dynasty, they now have a monthly income of about 150 million taels of silver.Toothbrush, tooth powder, soap, red brick, cement, briquette and other major workshops accounted for 16 yuan in output, and they could also earn more than [-] million taels of silver for Ye Chen every month.However, the national tax revenue only accounts for [-]%, which is worth [-] million taels per month.This is for a country as big as Xiangfu country, or in terms of per capita income, Xiangfu country is even richer than Song country.However, Xiangfu State has an army of [-], and the equipment and weapons are the best in the world, and the military pay is even higher than that of Song State.And Ye Chen also wanted to spread the education of Xiangfu Kingdom as soon as possible, improve the living standards of the people as soon as possible, etc., and the cost was even greater.

Ma Wentao immediately went out of the class and said: "Your Majesty, I think that wind-powered waterwheels can be promoted across the country in a few years, and it doesn't have to be done within this year. In addition, the Mongolian school can also be implemented at the state level first, and wait until the next year." Then extend it to the county level. This will make the finances more comfortable."

Ye Chen pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "No, the promotion of wind-powered waterwheels a year earlier can turn countless farmers' dry land into paddy fields, and the output of the fields can be increased several times. The construction has been notified to the whole country, and people from all over the country have already started to sign up for the exam. If the imperial court fails to build it on time at the county level, it will be a dishonor to the people. Therefore, the county-level Mongolian school cannot be postponed until next year."

Han Xizai glanced sideways at Ma Wentao, and said, "Your Majesty, I have a plan to save the cost of building cement roads in Meng Xuetang at the prefecture and county level and in Xiajing City."

Ye Chen's eyes lit up, and he said, "What's Mr. Han's strategy, please tell me."

Han Xizai said: "As long as His Majesty is willing, the money for building prefectural and county Meng schools and cement roads can be saved."

(End of this chapter)