The road of the farmer's fortune and the imperial examination

Chapter 488
"Second Highness, the emperor invites you in."

The second prince knelt down on the ground when he entered the imperial study, De'an quickly stopped what he was doing, and walked a few steps to the side.

"My son sees my father!"

The emperor glanced at the second prince, and a gleam of warmth flashed in his eyes, "Well! Why are you here today? But for the Ministry of Household affairs?"

The emperor went over the recent affairs. Could it be that the second child has recently taken over the errand of the household department and is still not competent?The second child is pure and good-natured, and I'm afraid he won't be able to suppress those old ministers.

"Father, my son just took over the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and found that our treasury is very empty. Although in recent years, we have collected more taxes on land than in previous years, but it is still a drop in the bucket! In recent years, Xingguo has repeatedly violated borders and deducted borders from time to time. , the soldiers guarding the frontier are short of food and grass, their salaries are delayed from time to time, and life is even more difficult!"

As soon as the second prince arrived at the household department, he wanted to perform in front of his father.However, although he has selfish intentions, he is still very worried about the emptiness of the national treasury. Without money, it is easy to cause turmoil.Otherwise, Dayan would not tolerate Daxing's invasion from time to time. Isn't it because there is not enough food and grass?

In fact, he still has a lot of things to say. He heard that the soldiers guarding the border had not been paid for several months. Skimp and eat.

Raise soldiers for a thousand days and use them for a while.Although there has been no war recently, the soldiers have not enough food and clothing, and their foundation is poor. When they go to the battlefield, the possibility of surviving is greatly reduced.Moreover, those Tartars are fat and strong, and even the horses are strong BMWs. In a fight, they are still at a disadvantage!
The emperor had a twitch of veins on his forehead, he knew that the second child wanted to show him some political achievements, but didn't he know these things?
Even every official in the Ministry of Household Affairs knows very well that in order to fill the national treasury, it must increase revenue and reduce expenditure.But now that the Ministry of Household Affairs can't come up with any good solutions, how can his wallet be full?
Everyone knows that the national treasury is empty, but the second prince told this matter and spread it out naked in the sun. How can he save the face of an emperor?
The emperor sighed in his heart, the second child is still too honest!The third child took over the position of the household department for more than a year. Of course he knew the situation of the household department. No matter what the ministers in the court expressed or implied, the third child did not even mention a word. This is the difference between honesty and tact.

If this matter is the boss, let alone talk about it.At least they won't bring it up so directly, and they will definitely save some face for him.

This temper is too simple and straightforward, I am afraid that the boss and the third child are unwilling to plot against him, how can such a temper be able to subdue those old cunning and cunning?

The emperor's face turned cold, "The treasury is empty, I already knew it, do you have a good plan?"

The second prince's face tightened immediately, in fact, how could he have any good plan?This is a problem that dozens of officials can't solve. Even if he alone adds the staff in the mansion, he can't think of a good solution!
Glancing at the increasingly ugly emperor from the corner of his eye, the second prince suddenly became anxious.Immediately, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he recalled a sentence once said by a staff member in the mansion.

"Let me tell my father, although I don't have a good solution, I think that there is one person who may have a way."

De'an glanced at the second prince, and couldn't help sweating for him.The emperor has been in a bad mood for the past few days, and the dragon's body is also not in good condition. The second prince came to mention this at this time, isn't he here to make trouble?
The emperor looked even worse, he thought that the second prince wanted to perfunctory him, and pushed the matter to others.

"Oh? Who are you talking about?"

"That man's name is Gu Chengyu, and he's the candidate for this exam."

The second prince was uneasy, fearing that his father would blame him.He is still too eager for quick success, the mess left by the third child should not be left to him to clean up, although he will still be reprimanded by the emperor at the end of the year, but after all, delay is a day!

"Gu Chengyu?" The emperor was very surprised, what does this matter have to do with Gu Chengyu?Could it be that Gu Chengyu alone can fill the national treasury?It is simply nonsense.

The emperor endured the throbbing forehead, suppressed the anger in his heart and asked, "Why do you say he has a way? Let's hear it."

"Father, my son heard that Gu Chengyu was originally a farmer's son, and his family was very poor, but now the Gu family can be regarded as a rich family. Gu Chengyu is very good at making money, and his family's fortune is all dependent on him. I heard that in the The restaurants opened in the capital are making a lot of money every day!"

Seeing the emperor's increasingly relaxed expression, the second prince heaved a sigh of relief.

The emperor was already interested in Gu Chengyu, but after hearing what the second prince said, he also felt that it was not easy for such a poor student to get to this point by himself.Hearing that he still has the ability to make money, I feel that Gu Chengyu is a talent.

It's just that no matter how good the restaurant's business is, how much money can it make in a year.The money needed by the imperial court is called huge. Gu Chengyu earned the money and threw it into the treasury without even hearing a sound.

"Second brother, do you know how much money the current tax is in a year? And how much money does the imperial court spend in a year?"

The second prince certainly did his homework on these things. "In the past, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was converted into silver, which was 300 million taels a year. Now that the grain tax has been increased, the tax revenue last year was 500 million taels."

The founding of the Dayan Dynasty only experienced two generations of emperors, and the original wars caused the people to live in dire straits.In fact, it is no wonder that Emperor Huiming, after all, when his former emperor left the country to him, the national treasury was not full.

All the money from the national treasury was used to fight wars, but after recuperating, taxes were slowly raised.

The emperor nodded and signaled the second prince to continue talking.

"As for the imperial court's expenditure, it is about 400 million taels of silver per year." Regarding this figure, the second prince was surprised when he first saw it. It turned out that the imperial court supported so many people.

There is only about 100 million taels of silver left in a year, but don't think that 100 million taels is a lot.If there is an emergency, it will not be enough at all.For example, when a river embankment is built every four or five years, wherever there is a disaster, the imperial court will allocate money to relieve the disaster.

In addition, the palace in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace needs to be repaired from time to time, the birthdays of the emperor and empress, those idle clans, the salaries of court officials, etc., and others will not be repeated one by one.

If there is a shortage in one year, the father will allocate silver taels from the private treasury to make up for it.

Therefore, the emptiness of the national treasury is already a very serious problem, and the second prince also knows that his father is often worried about this matter and cannot sleep at night.

"It is absolutely impossible to fill the void of the treasury by himself. Maybe he has some good ideas, but that is far from the money the court spends every year."

The emperor sighed when he thought of these things. Recently, he even practiced alchemy less frequently.But the elixir must be practiced. The Taoist priest said that one day the elixir will be produced.He is old now, and none of the princes below can stand him.

He really wants to borrow another 500 years from the sky, and keep guarding his Zhao family's country, so that the Dayan Dynasty can prosper and reach an unprecedented peak of prosperity.

　Thanks for the reward from Global Shopping!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)