Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 502 Flow
Through Zhao Feng's explanation, Li Xuan learned that the income of the royal private treasury was divided into several major parts.

The most basic is the imperial grain paid by the imperial farms.

Others include the collection of criminal property, tributes from officials and vassal states, customs duties, liquor taxes, and salt and iron revenues.

Of course, lending is also an essential item.

It’s just that Emperor Yongyuan lent money to those ministers, and the interest income was very stable.

Then those ministers used the money to lend to the people, and Emperor Yongyuan also benefited a lot from the previous law on usury.

Li Xuan could see that originally the biggest profit from this money lending business was going to go to Emperor Yongyuan, but now everything had changed, with the ministers getting the meat while Emperor Yongyuan was drinking the soup.

According to Zhao Feng, they can still control the royal private treasury income within the capital and put an end to corruption.

But outside the capital, the Imperial Household Department was unable to help.

They can control it for a while, but not for a lifetime.

When the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent people to supervise, they arrested some and killed some.

As a result, once the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs left, things returned to their original state.

The power of the Imperial Household Department is barely enough to manage the Imperial Palace and the capital. As for areas outside the capital, it can at best serve as a source of information.

Unless a special team is dispatched to carry out a mission, it is difficult to stay in one place and be responsible for local affairs.

Ultimately, Emperor Yongyuan's control over Daxing was too weak.

The reports from below all said that the efficiency was getting worse and worse, but Li Xuan thought that the money that should have gone into the royal private treasury might have gone into other people's pockets.

No wonder Emperor Yongyuan frequently resorted to risky moves; he had no choice but to do so.

But no matter what, the income of the royal private treasury is not much now, so it cannot be wasted at will.

Zhao Feng flipped through the account books and told the three little ones which expenses were pure extravagance and waste and could be cut.

Li Xuan leaned over to take a closer look and couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow".

"My goodness, are the expenses so high?"

The bulk of the palace's expenses came from the monthly allowances for the concubines.

Empress Wu, who had the most, rounded up an auspicious number: nine hundred and ninety-nine taels.

The four concubines and nine imperial concubines below them also received hundreds of taels of silver, but their amounts were reduced gradually according to their ranks.

It may not seem like much, but it is an expense every month.

When they were in the worst time of their Jingyang Palace, the brown rice and small change they had added up were not even as much as other people's small change.

The small change they received was almost broken into pieces. It could be blown away by a breath, and even if it was melted together, it might not weigh even one or two ounces.

Especially Yu'er, who couldn't help but gasp when she saw the exaggerated numbers on the account book.

In the past, she worked for others from dawn to dusk every day for a dozen or twenty cents.

But these people can enjoy such a luxurious life without any work.

Although Yu'er had seen many larger numbers and counted quite a few tens of thousands of taels of silver bills during this period of time with Li Xuan, she still couldn't help feeling angry.

Li Xuan felt similarly. Jingyang Palace had suffered so much in the past, mostly because of money.

But the other concubines have such high monthly allowances.

You have to know that the palace will meet the concubines' basic needs such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, and the monthly allowance is used for rewards and purchasing other extra items.

The other palaces were not like the Jingyang Palace before, which was short of food and clothing, and the supply of materials had always been sufficient.

A considerable portion of the royal private treasury's expenditure is also dedicated to ensuring this part.

Li Xuan slapped the account book and wrote viciously:
"Drop it all, drop it all!"

"They are all rich girls anyway, let them send money!"

In response to Li Xuan's words, Zhao Feng could only smile bitterly.

After all, these concubines were all Emperor Yongyuan's women, so it was naturally impossible for them to do this.

Otherwise, it would be Emperor Yongyuan himself who would be embarrassed.

Li Xuan was also puzzled.

Since Emperor Yongyuan was so poor, how could he dare to take in so many concubines?

Just by taking a quick look at the account books, there are no less than a hundred names of concubines.

Can Emperor Yongyuan take care of so many concubines?
"Don't overestimate your own abilities! Don't overestimate your own abilities!"

Perhaps he saw Li Xuan's contempt, or perhaps he was telling Princess Ankang that, Zhao Feng coughed dryly and said faintly, "Your Majesty also has his own difficulties."

"The ladies are all from extraordinary families, so Your Majesty naturally cannot favor one over the other."

"Therefore, as long as there is a suitable candidate and he is willing to enter the palace, His Majesty will agree."

"But whether you can stand out in the cruel struggle in the harem is not your Majesty's business."

After hearing this, Li Xuan couldn't help but think of what he had seen in Yanqu Hall before.

There were indeed a large number of talented people who had just entered the palace, and many of them had prominent family backgrounds like Wang Suyue and Liang Chuchu.

"Wow, isn't this 'The Harem Stage, Come if You Have a Dream'?"

But Li Xuan clearly remembered that in addition to those talented people with special identities, there were also many talented people from ordinary families.

He had heard that these talented people were brought into the palace by the so-called flower and bird envoys.

This flower and bird envoy cannot be unrelated to Emperor Yongyuan, right?

Li Xuan had no scruples and immediately asked Zhao Feng about the existence of the flower and bird envoy.

As far as he knew, the duty of this flower and bird envoy was to select beautiful women from the people to enter the palace for Emperor Yongyuan.

However, from the rumors he heard in Yanqu Palace, people generally avoided the flower and bird envoys and even paid bribes just to prevent their daughters from entering the palace.

But there are those who are unwilling to enter the palace, and naturally there are also those who are willing to enter the palace.

Some people pay to not go, while others pay to beg to go.

But no matter what, the flower and bird envoy position seems to be quite lucrative.

Zhao Feng didn't expect that Li Xuan knew quite a lot, and immediately explained awkwardly:
"When the flower-dressed eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department go out of the palace to do business, the only thing that can conceal their identities is the flower-and-bird eunuchs."

"Selecting beauties to enter the palace is just a side job. The main purpose is to carry out secret missions."

"Otherwise, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will face numerous obstacles in its high-profile investigation."

It seems that the Imperial Household Department is the most powerful in the palace. The further away they are from the imperial power, the more difficult it is for them to exert their power.

Li Xuan could also guess that Emperor Yongyuan's control over the capital was not very good, and outside the capital, the emperor was far away.

Li Xuan no longer asked Zhao Feng about the sad things in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and concentrated on studying with him the issue of reducing the expenses of the royal private treasury.

Zhao Feng already had a plan for this and began to explain it to the three little ones.

Li Xuan and Zhao Feng were discussing with each other, while Princess Ankang and Yu'er were listening quietly on the side.

Li Xuan had shown his remarkable ability when he was speculating in antiques before, so Zhao Feng also attached great importance to his opinions and answered almost every question he asked.

"Since the basic needs of life are guaranteed, the extra money is just a waste of money."

"How about this, we set a baseline and divide it according to the grade, and then add a cap to it. It is not allowed to exceed this line."

As Li Xuan wrote, he gave Zhao Feng a look, indicating that he should remind Emperor Yongyuan not to give out rewards indiscriminately in the future.

Zhao Feng naturally understood what Li Xuan meant, and immediately spoke for Emperor Yongyuan:

"Oh, Xuan, you don't know something."

"Sometimes, rewards are unavoidable. After all, there are a few special days every year."

Li Xuan shrugged it off and continued, "Then just give me a one-time reward. As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long one."

"And didn't Emperor Yongyuan see the opportunity now?" "Now that the national treasury is empty, Emperor Yongyuan and his concubines really need to set an example and serve as a role model."

"I believe that the sensible ladies will not have any objection to this."

"It's possible that the virtuous queen has also provided some support to our dear Majesty from her own treasury."

Li Xuan said sarcastically.

Zhao Feng knew what he meant, but he was absolutely not the one to bring up the matter of asking Emperor Yongyuan to ask the concubines for money.

Zhao Feng immediately pretended to be stupid, as if he didn't understand the implicit meaning of the words, and just nodded in agreement with Li Xuan.

"What Xuan said makes sense."

"Good, good, good. It is indeed a good omen for the country."

"Great! It's really great!"

Zhao Feng kept giving Li Xuan a thumbs up.

Li Xuan said "Tsk~" silently in his heart.

He made such a proposal for the good of Emperor Yongyuan.

Emperor Yongyuan had spent so much money on his concubines in the past. Couldn't these concubines support him when he was in trouble? This would have been a good opportunity to test whether the relationship between the couple was still deep?

Li Xuan couldn't help but laugh evilly.

It would be interesting if Emperor Yongyuan opened his mouth and no one paid.

After Li Xuan discussed with Zhao Feng for a while, they came up with the final solution.

Li Xuan waved his pen and directly crossed out the nine on Empress Wu's monthly allowance.

"The Queen's monthly allowance is ninety-nine taels."

"Ah Xuan, is this too much?"

Zhao Feng asked with some concern.

Princess Ankang couldn't help but say, "Ah Xuan, Yuan An's pocket money seems to come from this monthly allowance."

Li Xuan immediately wagged his tail and said, "The child is still young. He needs to suffer a little before he can understand the sufferings of the people."

"Oh--"

Princess Ankang answered obediently and asked no more questions. Instead, she borrowed the account book from Zhao Feng's hand and began to flip through it.

Zhao Feng couldn't help but feel distressed, so he simply crossed out a digit, which of course made him feel good.

All these miscellaneous monthly salaries add up to more than 10,000 taels of silver per month.

According to Li Xuan's method, he could save nearly 10,000 taels.

This is every month, and if it accumulates over a year, it will add up to a lot.

Compared to what Zhao Feng had expected at the beginning, it was obvious that Li Xuan was going to be more ruthless.

But doing so would offend even more people.

Thinking of this, Zhao Feng couldn't help but look at Princess Ankang who was quietly flipping through the account book with a little concern.

Princess Ankang silently turned to the end of the account book and asked Li Xuan:
"Ah Xuan, what should we do with these concubines who are already in the single digits?"

"Leave five taels of silver as a monthly allowance for each of them, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs must ensure the supply of basic materials, and not let them lack food and clothing to the point where they cannot support their daily lives."

Li Xuan's answer made Zhao Feng look a little unnatural.

At that time, the monthly salary of Jingyang Palace was cut repeatedly, and it happened right under his nose.

Although the three little ones had no intention of blaming him, Zhao Feng still felt embarrassed when the matter was mentioned.

He was indeed not thoughtful enough in this matter.

As the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, he had the ability to secretly take care of Jingyang Palace, but he did not do so.

After all, it was because he calculated too much.

In this regard, he is far inferior to his godfather.

However, the difference in their current identities and statuses also meant that Zhao Feng could not do as he pleases as Shang Zongguan.

Zhao Feng had too many things to consider, especially the need to figure out what Emperor Yongyuan meant.

After all, as the director of the Imperial Household Department and the most trusted confidant of Emperor Yongyuan, his every move represented the will of Emperor Yongyuan.

What Shang Zongguan said was right about one thing. Zhao Feng had only seen the majesty of the Zongguan of the Imperial Household Department before, but had not seen how cautious he was.

Even though he was an adopted son and had always been by Manager Shang's side, there were still some things that he needed to experience personally in order to understand the hardships involved.

Princess Ankang glanced at Zhao Feng, then immediately lowered her head to look at the account book and continued:

"Even if everyone gets the same salary, I'm afraid some people will still be dissatisfied."

Li Xuan was not worried about this and explained, "That's why we set the upper limit according to the rank. This will also motivate these concubines to be motivated and serve your father well."

"But there is still an upper limit in the end. Otherwise, Empress Wu received 1,000 taels of silver, while the lowest-ranking concubine received less than 3 taels of silver. Such a huge gap is unacceptable."

Some concubines in the palace are actually worse off than some powerful palace maids, which can be seen from the monthly allowance.

When Li Xuan was looking through the account books just now, he found that the lowest-ranking concubines, who were the largest in number, received less than five taels of silver per month. He then knew how to solve the problem.

Most of the one queen, four concubines and nine imperial concubines mentioned above have extraordinary family backgrounds and are not short of money at all.

However, the division of the monthly allowance resulted in most of the money being given to those concubines who had no shortage of money at all, while those low-ranking concubines who needed money were left with only a few dollars and were unable to even maintain a decent appearance.

As a result, those who are favored will naturally become more favored, while those who are not favored will not see Emperor Yongyuan even once all year round.

Even if he met her by chance, I'm afraid Emperor Yongyuan would not have any interest in a low-ranking concubine who looked a little embarrassed.

In the long run, these concubines who were lucky enough to get a chance would eventually become nothing more than palace maids.

Perhaps when I get older, I can brag about the fact that I was favored by the emperor.

Seeing that Li Xuan had an idea and Princess Ankang did not object, Zhao Feng had to point out the possible risks.

But Li Xuan had already told Princess Ankang about the matter of offending people before he came, so she should be prepared.

Seeing that Zhao Feng was afraid that he didn't understand the situation, Princess Ankang said helplessly:

"Zhao Zongguan, whether this happened or not, I'm afraid that few of the concubines in the palace like me, right?"

"What difference does it make whether you offend someone or not?"

Princess Ankang laughed at herself, making it difficult for Zhao Feng to say anything more.

Li Xuan came over and patted Zhao Feng on the shoulder, telling him not to worry too much and not to underestimate Princess Ankang.

Then, they carried out similar reforms on the monthly wages of palace maids and concubines, drastically reducing the exaggerated monthly wages of the top palace maids and eunuchs, and then slightly increasing the wages at the lowest level, and also setting an upper limit on monthly wages according to rank.

In this way, as long as the number of palace maids and eunuchs does not expand significantly, this part of the expenditure will be regulated to a certain level.

But Li Xuan and Zhao Feng knew very well that although the effect of saving money was good, it was far less effective than increasing revenue.

They still have to find a way to increase the income of the royal private treasury as soon as possible.

In this way, Emperor Yongyuan would have more confidence.

After all, the royal private treasury is under the supervision of the Imperial Household Department, so there will be no mistakes.

It was not until late at night that the three little ones yawned and walked out of the royal private treasury with Zhao Feng.

But their work today was not in vain. According to preliminary estimates, the monthly expenditure of the royal private treasury was reduced by nearly 20,000 taels of silver.

In other words, after this day's effort, Jingyang Palace will have a stable income of 10,000 taels of silver every month!

As for how the people who contribute this stable income to Jingyang Palace would feel, Li Xuan was also looking forward to it.

"Hehe~"

(End of this chapter)