Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 651: Small Money, Big Matter
"You! How can you be so greedy and despicable as to serve the country?"

"How can a gentleman cherish small gains and lose the greater righteousness?"

"This is a matter concerning the national system and destiny. How can we care about the gains and losses of money and grain?"

"How can you be so fussy when discussing national affairs in front of the emperor?"

"Does Lord Feng value money more than the country?"

……

Before the military generals could even reprimand Feng Yuan, the civil officials had already severely criticized him.

Well, that saves us some trouble. The nobles simply shut up and watched the show happily. When it comes to cursing, ten of them put together are not as good as one censor.

Feng Yuan was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. He looked at his nose with his eyes and at his heart with his nose. He was like an old monk in meditation, calm and relaxed.

"Silence!" Dai Quan screamed.

The crowd gradually fell silent.

Emperor Xifeng glared at Feng Yuan and said, "At the end of last year, 30 million silver coins were shipped from Jiangnan. This year, the new law in Jiangnan was implemented, and the summer and autumn taxes were as high as 40 million. In addition, a lot of arrears from the national treasury were collected, and a lot of rebellious properties were confiscated. How come there is no money again?"

Feng Yuan was waiting for the emperor to ask questions, and hurriedly reached into his bosom, took out a palm-sized delicate abacus, and started to count on it, saying, "Your Majesty, although the income has been high in the past two years, the expenses have also been high.

At the beginning of spring, there was a spring drought in Sichuan and Yunnan, and rare hailstorms hit the provinces of the Central Plains. Later, drought and floods hit various provinces, and the Yellow River burst its banks, leaving millions of people homeless. Thirty million silver coins were spent on disaster relief alone, and another four million silver coins were spent on river reconstruction.
More than 20 million yuan was spent on organizing the funeral of the Empress Dowager, providing relief to the soldiers who died in the rebellion led by Tu Fei, rewarding the ministers who had made contributions in suppressing the rebellion and protecting the emperor, rebuilding dozens of camps of the Beijing Army, etc.

More than 10 million taels were spent on salaries for officials in the capital, relatives of the royal family, nobles, and daily operations of various ministries and agencies.

In order to prevent instability in the nine frontiers, the government opened the granaries and sent a large amount of money and grain to the frontiers to make up for the arrears of wages and boost morale, spending more than 15 million taels.

The Ministry of Revenue does have some money left, but it is almost the end of the year and there are still many things to do. The dust in the nine frontiers has not yet settled, so it is not appropriate to start a war at this moment, otherwise the court may not have enough money for the New Year."

Upon hearing this, all the civil servants shut up. Feng Yuan meant that he didn't even want to pay out the money for maintaining integrity? What a bastard!
Bian Qing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, groaned for a moment and said, "After listening to Lord Feng's explanation, it seems that although the country is large and the affairs are complicated, we really have to be frugal to survive."

"Well, that's a very good idea. If we want to recover the Western Regions, we can't spend money recklessly. We have to spend within our means."

"Yes, Lord Wu is right. We still have to spend little money to accomplish great things."

When the military generals saw that the civil officials instantly reached a consensus on "spending little money to accomplish great things", they were so angry that they gritted their teeth and cursed the civil officials for being shameless.

Doing big things is fake, spending small money is real.

As the Grand Commander, Li Meng held back his anger and said, "My Lords, the Western Regions are thousands of miles away, and the people and horses have to eat and chew along the way. When a load of grain is transported from the capital, at most a quarter of it will be left.

As for the expenses of carriages, horses, soldiers, and equipment, let alone, how can we "spend little money to accomplish great things"?

"This is a military matter and should be planned by the Grand Commander." said Heng Zhou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"absurd!"

"That's unreasonable!"

“How can we fight a war without money?”

"Make bricks without straw!"

The generals could not help but make a noise and argue loudly.

"Silence!" Dai Quan shouted several times at the top of his voice before he silenced the nobles.

Emperor Xifeng asked, "What do you think, Yuanfu?"

Duan Zhun said: "I think what Lord Feng and the other Lords and the generals said are all reasonable. The so-called 'spending little money to accomplish great things' is not wrong, but how much money is considered 'small' and how big a thing is considered 'big' still needs to be considered."

Prince Beijing smiled and said, "What you said is true. Ordinary people have to be careful with their budgets, let alone the court. Your Majesty, I have a plan that may benefit both of us."

"Oh? Come on."

"Yes." Prince Beijing bowed and said, "I think that since we have to spend less money, we should not send troops to a distant place and waste money and manpower.

Why not recruit the personal guards of the princes from the border towns nearby? Besides, the princes' palaces in the border areas have stored a lot of grain for many years, and it is cheap to buy grain. This will bring four benefits.

First, they could recruit soldiers and purchase food nearby, thus saving the cost of massive transportation.

The second is a strategy to weaken the vassal states. After the troops, horses, and food supplies are requisitioned, they can be made to permanently stay in the Western Regions. Then the power of the kings will be weakened, the Nine Frontiers will be more stable, and the next step of dismantling the vassal states will be smoother.

The three do not need to mobilize many Beijing troops and have no worries.

If any of the four were to suffer casualties, since they were not official troops, the imperial court would not have to pay for their relief, but would only order the princes to deal with the aftermath, thus saving a large amount of money and grain.

If the various vassal states are given relief, their financial strength will be further weakened. If they are not, their military morale will be weakened. This will bring a hundred benefits to the court and no harm at all."

Feng Yuan and other civil servants' eyes lit up and they nodded repeatedly.

Huo Peng twirled his beard and smiled, "Your Highness, this is a brilliant plan. It can both eliminate and attack, and it can both lift the siege on the Western Regions and relieve the worries of the vassal kings. Good."

Dong Yi also laughed and said, "Your Highness, this plan achieves multiple goals at once. It can really be said to be 'spending little money to accomplish great things'."

All the civil officials smiled and said, "We second the motion."

Jia Cong and other nobles looked at each other and were horrified. It was such a vicious method.

In this way, the imperial court only needs to pay some money, and it will consume the military strength of the vassal kings anyway. Even if the entire army is wiped out, for the imperial court, as long as the Western Regions are recovered, it will be a complete success.

Could it be that a few young princes who had just come to power dare to rebel?
But this has nothing to do with Jia Cong. From a national perspective, this may be the best solution.

Emperor Xifeng nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "What if the vassals do not obey the edict?"

Prince Beijing said: "Your Majesty, rest assured. Now that the princes have passed the throne to their sons, they have set out to return to the capital. The new king has not experienced any hardships, has little knowledge, and lacks prestige. How dare he disobey your order?
The imperial court stands up for justice and integrity. If the princes shirk their responsibilities, it means that they have rebellious intentions. With the remaining power of reducing the Liao vassal state and intimidating the You and Ji vassal states, I believe that the vassal states will not dare to risk the disapproval of the world."

Gu Tao said: "You can pass on the order along the way, first take Datong Town, then Shanxi Town. Once one town is surrendered, all other towns will dare not fail to surrender."

"What Gu Zhongtang said is absolutely right. Datong and Shanxi towns are not far from the capital, and we dare not be the first to stand out." Everyone echoed.

"In your opinion, how many troops should be recruited?"

King Beijing said: "I think the Western Regions are vast and boundless, and the military force is too small. Even if we can win, it will be difficult to hold on. At least 200,000 people must be recruited."

Jia Cong made a brief calculation in his mind and concluded that he would need to recruit 30,000 to 40,000 troops from each of the remaining six feudal lords. However, the expense of 200,000 troops would definitely not be a small number.

Although some shipping costs were saved, the military expenditure required was still astronomical.

As expected, when Feng Yuan heard that he had to supply such a large army, he frowned and asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, how much will it cost?"

Prince Beijing said: "My rough estimate is that the minimum is 20 million and the maximum is 25 million. It should be enough to complete the task."

Li Meng, Wang Ning and others were delighted and said hurriedly: "This number is reasonable."

Although the princes' troops were used to fight, the flow of money and grain was certainly inseparable from the Five Military Governors' Office. All the nobles secretly thought that Prince Beijing would be the one who would bid the price, first following the civil servants' advice, and then taking a big bite in the end.

All the civil servants took a deep breath. Is this "spending a small amount of money"? Even Guan Pu, Gu Tao and others who advocated fighting frowned.

Prince Beijing's plan sounds good, but it costs too much.

Feng Yuan sneered and said, "Your Majesty, please take Old Feng to the market to sell him for what he is worth.

Haha, more than 20 million, the court doesn't have to do anything, just use the whole country's strength to conquer the Western Regions, and then the officials and people all over the world will starve to death." "Yes! This cost is too heavy and unbearable. Even if the national treasury can take it out, what if something unexpected happens next year? If the Western Regions use troops and the nine borders are in chaos again, how to deal with it? Absolutely not!"

All the civil servants changed their positions at the same time and began to criticize King Beijing Lion.

To sum it up, the plan is good, but the price is too high and we will never accept it.

Prince Beijing said hurriedly: "My Lords, please don't worry. I am just talking about it on paper. The specific cost will naturally be discussed by you and the Five Military Commanders' Office."

Everyone calmed down and started bargaining.

"I think ten million is enough."

"First pay 5 million, and the follow-up will depend on the situation."

"That's true. It would be better to pay one million a month. This would reduce the pressure on the treasury."

Li Meng, Wang Ning and others were busy arguing to get this big business.

There was a chaos in the Yangxin Palace for a while.

Emperor Xifeng looked at Jia Cong, who remained silent, and said, "Duke Dingguo knows a lot about military affairs. What do you think?"

Jia Cong said, "I think the plan of the Prince of Beijing is very good, but the journey to the Western Regions is long and dangerous, and the climate is bad. If we set out with an army of 200,000, even if we recruit them from various vassal states, the cost will be high. Based on Cong's experience in leading troops in battle, at least 20 million silver coins should be used to be considered safe."

Now that he was a nobleman and the Left General, he hoped for success in the battle of the Western Region both publicly and privately, so he did not save money for the court. Moreover, it was quite risky to mobilize an army of 200,000 men thousands of miles away with a military expenditure of less than 20 million.

"Young Master Jia is well versed in military strategies, and what he said is absolutely true." The nobles hurriedly spoke up in support.

All the civil servants frowned, some because it was inconvenient to refute Jia Cong in person due to his current status, and some like Guan Pu, Feng Yuan, Lin Ruhai, etc., who were close to him, did not speak.

Dong Yi saw this and said calmly: "What Jia Shaobao said is reasonable, but what we are discussing is not a matter of one time or one place. Those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the moment; those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region.

If the war in the Western Regions takes up too much of the court's attention, how will it cope with other matters?"

Huo Peng also said: "This is Dong Zhongtang's words of wisdom and wisdom for the country. The court has limited financial resources and matters must be prioritized.

If we use the whole country's strength to conquer the Western Regions, even if we conquer a large area of ​​useless desert land, what benefit will it bring to the court? Not only will it be useless, it may even become a burden."

"What the two prime ministers said is correct." All the civil servants nodded in agreement. Compared with the integrity of the country's territorial sovereignty, it is more important to curb the nobles' desire to take advantage of the opportunity to expand their power.

If 20 million silver coins were really thrown in to raise a strong army, and the Western Regions were far away, who would be able to control them? Aren't you afraid of becoming the second An Lushan? That would be a serious threat that would cause great damage to the country.

In comparison, the Western Regions were not that important. They were full of barbarians anyway, and no taxes could be collected from them. They were tasteless to eat, and it wouldn't be a pity to abandon them. It just didn't sound very nice.

Jia Cong laughed out of anger. This group of feudal bureaucrats made him deeply realize the limitations of the times and classes.

No matter what happens, party struggles come first. They don't seek to expand territory or defend the country. The first priority is to ensure the interests of their own group and suppress the group of military generals and nobles. As for other things, what does it have to do with them?
In their perception, the Western Regions are probably useless except as a place to collect folk songs and essays for writing frontier poems.

Seeing that the civil officials were of the same opinion, all the nobles and generals had to swallow their anger. After all, their lives were in the hands of others, and they could only count on their fingers to settle the score with reason and evidence.

By calculating the military pay, food, transportation, baggage, weapons, livestock and other aspects, we try to explain why so much money is spent.

Feng Yuan fiddled with the abacus and said with a sneer, "Generals, there is no need to ask me for advice on arithmetic. Since you are so good at calculating, why don't you come to the Ministry of Revenue and help me figure out the budget for next year.

If all four corners are complete and everything is in place, you can take whatever amount you want, and I will not hesitate."

"Master Feng is right. Generals don't know how valuable money is until they take charge of a household. You asked for 20 million. If it were two years ago, I'm afraid you wouldn't even be able to come up with 2 million."

"When good times last for too long, people forget the hard times."

“It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.”

"Little do we know that 'a gentleman avoids troubles with frugality'"

“Looking back at the past, we can see that success comes from diligence and thrift, while failure comes from extravagance.”

"It is said that a gentleman worries about the way of life rather than poverty. If you can lead your troops properly, why worry about a shortage of money and food?"

"That's right. We can give the enemy food to boost their morale."

……

The nobles were completely enraged by the civil servants' sarcastic ridicule. They didn't know how to argue, so they just shouted in protest, their faces turned red and their necks became thick, and they were ridiculed again.

Only the four princes, proud of their status, remained silent.

Dai Quan wanted to laugh when he saw this, so he shouted loudly, but it was no use in stopping the people who were already getting angry.

Emperor Xifeng looked at the mess in the hall with his thick eyebrows furrowed. Just as he was about to explode, he heard a clear voice scolding: "What are you arguing about?! The truth is not in the loudness of the voice! How can you make a scene in front of the emperor?!"

When Jia Cong cast a frosty gaze at them, the civil servants shrank their heads and shut up.

The Jinyiwei is now at its peak, who dares to offend him?
The military generals and nobles did not dare to say anything more. In terms of military achievements and titles, they could not even approach Jia Cong, so how could they have the confidence to provoke Jia Cong?

Duan Zhun smiled and said, "Does Jia Shaobao have any good ideas? Feel free to tell us so that we can discuss them together."

Jia Cong bowed and said, "I do have some humble opinions. Please give me some advice, Prime Minister and all the ministers. Just now, Prince Beijing talked about the strategy of pacifying the west. All the gentlemen praised it and thought it was a brilliant plan. Is this true?"

The civil officials said: "Although the plan is brilliant, the country has no extra money."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I think that in everything we should first understand the major points and then discuss the minor details.

The crux of this matter can be summed up in one sentence: the Western Regions are the territory of the Celestial Empire. We are paid by the emperor and have received the emperor's grace for generations. There is absolutely no reason for us to sit idly by, so this battle must be fought!

We must not only fight, but also demonstrate the national and military prestige, so that the barbarians will no longer dare to look the Celestial Empire in the face! Only in this way can we achieve long-term peace and stability. "

"The young guard is right!"

"You're right! That's exactly the truth!" The generals applauded.

Emperor Xifeng nodded slowly and said, "Prime Minister, my dear ministers, do you have any objections?"

Duan Zhun bowed and said, "Your Excellency's words are reasonable, and I have no objection."

"I have no objection."

"but……"

Jia Cong raised his hand to interrupt Huo Peng and said, "Cong knows that Prime Minister Huo is worried. The country is vast and there are many places to spend money. How can we just focus on the Western Regions?
"To live a good life, one must be thrifty. This is true for ordinary people, and it is also true for great countries."

Huo Peng smiled and said, "Young Master is well versed in Tao Zhu's teachings, and what he said hits the nail on the head."

"Prime Minister Huo, you are too kind." Jia Cong laughed and looked at Li Meng, saying, "General, Cong just roughly estimated that it would cost about 20 million silver coins, but that's just my personal opinion.

You are in charge of the army and have been in the military for decades. You are knowledgeable and experienced in many battles. Your estimate of the war should be more accurate than Cong. I wonder if you can save some money here and there so that Lord Feng can put his little abacus back."

Everyone laughed and thought that Jia Cong was a cunning guy. After they had said all the good things, he now pushed Li Meng out as the bad guy.

Feng Yuan chuckled and said, "General Li, if you ask for too much, I will have to settle the money with you."

Niu Jizong, Liu Fang and others smiled at each other. As long as Li Meng asked to cut funding, if the cuts were too little, the civil servants would certainly not agree. If the cuts were too much, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the military.

What's worse, if he suffered a defeat, he would be in big trouble. Who told him to withhold military funds?
Shao Bao’s move was indeed brilliant.

(End of this chapter)