novelaction Chapter 199 Your family's ability convinces me
Chapter 199 Your family's ability convinces me
Chapter 199 Your family's ability convinces me
As soon as Liu Bian finished speaking, Yang Biao and Wang Yun's eyes immediately fell on Xun Yu's face.
There was hardly any summer grain left, and everyone was focusing on the salt tax for this year's taxes. Now Xun Yu suddenly said "not optimistic", Yang Biao and Wang Yun suddenly felt nervous.
Rebellions broke out one after another, wars were fought everywhere, and the imperial court had hundreds of thousands of troops stationed outside. If they ran out of food, the consequences would be disastrous!
Xun Yu's mature face showed no sign of fluctuation as he bowed and said, "Yes."
Liu Bian slowly stroked the jade pendant on his waist with his right hand and asked, "Is there any other way?"
Xun Yu thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the banditry in Jizhou is too severe. Even if it is quelled before the end of the year, the salt tax this year will not be too much."
Yang Biao and Wang Yun each had different expressions and felt heavy in their hearts.
They knew the situation, but it seemed that they suddenly remembered the salt tax.
"Is there any other way to replenish the Taicang?" Wang Yun couldn't help asking. He was horrified that the court had no money.
Xun Yu glanced at him and said, "Yes. First, we will do our best to consolidate the autumn grain. The budget of the Household Department can get 100 million. Second, expand the money houses and promote them in Bing, Yan, Qing and other places. With the help of local officials and gentry, it is estimated that 300 million will be obtained. Third, reduce and compress the court expenses, which can save at least 100 million. Fourth, cut redundant officials, and another 100 million may be saved before the end of the year. Fifth, if the Taichang Shihou paper is properly handled, 50 million should be obtained. Sixth, Cao Cao will save money and grain by farming in Qingzhou, which is about 200 million. Seventh, if the valuables obtained from suppressing bandits in various places are sold at a discount by the Household Department, it can get about 600 million... Ten..."
Wang Yun was stunned. Even if he didn't calculate carefully, Xun Yu said ten things, which meant at least two hundred million. How could this be called having no money?
It was the first time he knew that the imperial court was so wealthy!
Yang Biao felt a little dry in the mouth and looked at Xun Yu, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
During the ten years of the Qiang rebellion, the imperial court spent more than two million in taxes, emptying the family's coffers.
Instead of recovering, it has dropped sharply to only about 500 million for the whole year.
Xun Yu's words seemed to make sense, but they made him instinctively suspicious, and he couldn't tell what the problem was for a moment.
Yang Biao and Wang Yun were unable to react for a while, but Liu Bian knew it well.
Xun Yu used words like "estimated", "budgeted", and "appropriate", but in reality, the operation could not go as smoothly as expected.
'In total, there should be about 500 million... That's enough!'
Liu Bian narrowed his eyes slightly, smiled more, looked directly at Xun Yu, and said: "As long as you are here, Taicang will have no worries!"
This was the first time that Xun Yu showed his abilities, and Liu Bian was very satisfied!
Wang Yun reacted a little and wanted to get to the bottom of it, so he asked, "Are there really so many?"
Xun Yu turned to him and said, "I have read the plan that the prince gave to the Ministry of Personnel to reduce redundant officials. At least 3,000 people will be cut. Together with other expenses, 100 million can be saved before the end of the year."
Wang Yun stared at him, his eyes wandering.
He was so immersed in the plan of "cutting redundant officials" that he actually neglected to save money and grain!
When Liu Bian saw that Wang Yun was blocked by Xun Yu's words, he shook his head secretly.
Xun Yu's words seemed to be correct, but the problem was that the court's expenditure on the salaries of local officials had to rely on the local governments themselves many years ago, and what the court gave was less than one-tenth of the total!
Therefore, "cutting down on redundant officials" can only bring about nominal "cost savings", but in reality, there will not be much!
"Wang Qing's house,"
Liu Bian did not give Wang Yun a chance to react and said, "The matter of reducing redundant officials must be properly promoted as soon as possible, and it must be implemented when the court opens next year!"
"I obey your order!" Wang Yun immediately raised his hand and said solemnly. This was his main job at the moment. If he had this in his hands, his power would surpass everyone else's!
Ding Yuan listened to everything without looking away, feeling envious and jealous.
Seeing Yang Biao's expression relax, Liu Bian said, "Shihou paper will be moved out of Taichang and handed over to Taicang for management."
"I obey your command." Xun Yu raised his hand and responded.
Liu Bian hummed, sat up straighter, and said, "There is one more thing. I am considering changing the Nine Ministers to Temples. The Minister of the Imperial Household will be called the Imperial Household Temple, the Grand Herald will be called the Honglu Temple, and so on. The Shangshutai will be responsible for sorting out the various official titles, powers and responsibilities, and official positions."
Yang Biao's fat face tightened and he replied, "I obey your order."
This matter is not complicated. It is just a change of name and has no special impact.
Wang Yun didn't say anything, but occasionally looked at Xun Yu, always feeling that there were many problems in Xun Yu's words just now.
Liu Bian looked thoughtful and suddenly remembered a memorial Wang Lang had submitted before.
It mentioned that Luoyang would be promoted to a "prefecture", and Henan Yin, Youfufeng and others would be renamed as counties in order to establish Luoyang's special status.
After thinking about it, Liu Bian still felt that he couldn't rush things, so he stood up and said, "That's all for today, Xun Qing, please follow me."
After several people saluted, Xun Yu was the first to follow Liu Bian out of the Secretariat.
On the way out of the palace, Liu Bian stood with his hands behind his back, facing the scorching sun, and said thoughtfully: "How many of the ten points you just mentioned can be implemented?"
Xun Yu said: "I can implement it."
Liu Bian paused, turned around and looked at him. His expression remained unchanged, but it almost said: Do you think I am Yang Biao or Wang Yun who is so easy to fool?
Xun Yu remained calm and raised his hand, saying, "I am not lying."
Liu Bian thought about the ten points Xun Yu had mentioned before, and after careful calculation, he hesitated and said, "Can there really be two hundred million?"
Xun Yu and Liu Bian looked at each other, paused, and said, "Your Majesty, the money and grain saved by the court is not the money and grain now."
Liu Bian blinked, raised his head suddenly, and reacted, saying: "Your words make sense."
What Xun Yu meant was that the saved part was actually a number on paper.
For example, "cutting down redundant officials" and "Cao Cao's military farming in Qingzhou" seemed to have saved money and grain, but in fact the court did not spend any money on it. This part accounted for the bulk of the more than 100 million yuan.
Although the court did not spend any money, it should have spent it, so it was indeed saved.
Liu Bian bypassed this bend and looked at Xun Yu and said, "Tell me the truth, how much can Taicang raise before the end of the year?"
"Excluding the valuables confiscated from the rebels, it would be around 800 million." Xun Yu said without hesitation, apparently he already had an idea in mind.
Liu Bian raised his eyebrows. This was 300 million more than he expected. He asked in surprise, "So many?"
Xun Yu seemed to hesitate, and after a moment he said, "If the court needs it urgently, I can raise another 300 million."
Liu Bian was not only surprised, but also began to doubt, and asked directly: "How did you raise the money?"
Xun Yu was a mature young man, not only in his expression but also in his temperament, like a 40-year-old bureaucrat who had experienced many ups and downs in the political world and was extremely shrewd. He said calmly, "I can use the salt tax as collateral and the salt certificate as proof to advance the salt tax for the next six months from the wealthy families in various places."
Liu Bian's eyebrows kept twitching and his heart became excited.
Xun Yu's ability truly far exceeded his expectations!
He was still hesitating, thinking of training Xun Yu for a while longer like Cao Cao did, but he never expected that Xun Yu didn't need his training!
Liu Bian narrowed his eyes slightly, his eyes were shining, and his smile was more sincere than ever before. He said: "No hurry, it will be enough for now. Your family's ability convinces me."
"I dare not." Xun Yu raised his hand, with no expression on his face.
Liu Bian examined him for a while, then turned around and continued to pace. His mind was relaxed and his thoughts became sharper. He said, "I will leave the matter of money and grain to you. By the way, what do you think of the Shangshutai?"
Xun Yu's demonstrated ability made Liu Bian want to help him take the position as soon as possible.
Xun Yu followed behind Liu Bian and said, "Your Majesty, we all think that the Secretariat is lacking and should be filled."
In the original reform, Liu Bian and his ministers planned to have nine people in the Secretariat, but to date, there are only three, and one of them is Dong Zhuo, who is only a figurehead.
Seeing that Xun Yu did not understand what he meant, Liu Bian thought about it again and again, but still felt a little anxious, so he turned and asked, "What do you think about the matter of Jizhou?"
Xun Yu's face was rarely solemn, and he said, "Your Majesty, natural disasters continue, the situation is dire, and rebels everywhere will surely plunder crazily. The fact that the Black Mountain Army has been attacking Jizhou for half a year is enough to prove this. And it's not just Jizhou. I'm worried that the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu will invade the border at any time."
Liu Bian nodded slightly and said, "The Grand Marshal's Mansion did not move Xiahou Dun's 20,000 men because they were worried that Liu Yu would not be able to defend the city and that the Xianbei and Wuhuan would march straight in. The next step is the autumn harvest, and then the winter. It seems that the war in Jizhou will not end so easily."
Xun Yu said: "I think that the current priority is to defend. As long as we hold on to Jizhou, the situation will be much better next year."
Cao Cao surrendered a million Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou, and the main force of the Yellow Turban Army was almost completely lost. The most important thing now is to stabilize Qingzhou. As long as this chaotic place is stable, the court will save a huge burden!
After the next year, the imperial court would have recovered and accumulated some strength, and Cao Cao would be able to extricate himself.
By then, the initiative will be completely in the hands of the imperial court, and even sending a large army to attack the Black Mountain Army will become possible!
Liu Bian paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, pondering in his mind.
Being well-versed in history, he knew very well that the most brutal time had not yet arrived and things would not go as smoothly as Xun Yu had expected.
"Give the Qing family a task,"
Liu Bian suddenly turned around and looked at Xun Yu with a smile, and said, "My second son, the eldest princess, is born. Please give her a name."
Xun Yu looked normal, but was wondering why Liu Bian suddenly changed the subject. Just as he was about to think about it, he heard footsteps behind him.
Looking back, I saw Buqihou, the Chief Censor, and Fu Wan jogging towards me.
He was panting, sweating profusely, and raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, this is the memorial of Henan Yin Zhongji."
Seeing him so flustered, Liu Bian reached out to take it, took a look at it, and couldn't help frowning.
Zhong Ji was originally recommended by Prime Minister Yang Biao as the governor of Donglai, but Liu Bian changed it to Huangfu Jianshou, so Zhong Ji was appointed as the governor of Henan instead.
It had not been long since Zhong Ji took office. In this memorial he wrote, his words were fierce and his attitude was tough. The anger between the lines was clearly visible. He impeached Luoyang Magistrate Chen Gong for "corruption and abuse of power", "abuse of power and making arbitrary orders", "embezzlement of autumn grain", "oppression of officials", etc.
Although this memorial was full of murderous intent, it was vague and did not provide any concrete evidence.
Liu Bian's heart suddenly moved, he looked at Fu Wan and said, "Does the Censorate have evidence?"
Fu Wan was wiping the sweat off his forehead and said quickly, "Your Majesty, the Censorate sent a supervisory censor to Henan Yin and found that 5,000 dan of grain in the warehouse was missing."
Liu Bian took the memorial and clearly felt something was wrong. He asked, "Is it really Chen Gong who did it?"
Asking for a monthly ticket~