I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 191 Gao Gong Worried About Money
Gao Gong sat in the study in his mansion, his face as dark as if covered with a layer of soot.

Gao Yi, Wang Lin, Zhang Siwei, Cheng Wen and others were sitting on his left and right. They held their breath and looked at Gao Gong with complicated expressions.

The atmosphere in the room was very depressing, just like the stuffy atmosphere before a storm.

After a long while, Gao Yi could not help asking, "Mr. Xinzheng, did your students inspect the salt industry and get any results?"

After these words were spoken, Gao Gong's face darkened even more, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I sent 24 of my favorite students to Lianghuai to rectify the salt administration, check the account books, and clear up the deficit. After two months of investigation, they finally found 470,000 taels of silver. The eleven criminals who were convicted were all small minions such as salt guards, salt officials, and salt warehouse managers!"

He clenched his right fist and smashed it hard on the table, almost breaking the pear wood table into pieces.

"These disciples whom I have placed great hopes on, have only given me such an answer sheet! Four hundred and seventy thousand taels of silver, to send away beggars!
Yan Maoqing, a member of the Yan Party, easily found five million taels of silver while inspecting the Lianghuai salt administration. But when it came to me, I found only 470,000 taels of silver in corruption and abuse of power. Who would believe me if I told them about it?
It's really abominable, they think those useless bastards are idiots, and they think I'm an idiot too!"

After Gao Gong scolded the salt merchants, he scolded his disciples, and then scolded both of them together.

Gao Yi twisted his beard with three fingers, frowned and asked, "Xinzheng Gong, have all your disciples returned?"

"Twenty-four were sent out, and twenty-one returned."

"Only twenty-one returned?" Wang Lin was shocked. "What about the other three?"

"They both fell into the water and drowned. It was said that they drank too much while sailing and fell into the water." Gao Gong replied with a dark face, "But I know that these two people are not drinkers.

Another said he died of an acute illness, but the people who carried his coffin back were officials from Gaoyou County, and his servants and followers were nowhere to be found.

Cheng Wen asked hesitantly, "Master, what you mean is that Ziyi and Lunliang were pushed into the water and drowned. And Wulian was killed by his trusted followers?"

Gao Gong replied with a twinkling look in his eyes: "All signs indicate that Ziyi, Lunliang and Wulian may have found out something, and then someone tried to bribe them but failed, so they were silenced."

Gao Yi sighed and said, "I never thought the Lianghuai salt administration would become so corrupt. It is shrouded in shady dealings and stagnant water. It was originally a major source of tax revenue for the imperial court, but it has become a shameless place for those who embezzle public funds and enrich themselves."

Zhang Siwei said, "Lord Xinzheng, have you counted the number of disciples who have returned and asked them in person?"

"I have questioned all the twenty-one people who came back. Alas, they were still human beings before they left, but after traveling around Lianghuai, they came back as ghosts.

It is hard to tell the difference between a human and a ghost! Money and beauty dazzle the eyes! "

That’s right, the entire army was destroyed!

Yangzhou is a bad place to go as the salt merchants there have too much silver.

Money can make the world go round!

Seeing Gao Gong's face full of shame and regret, Wang Lin couldn't help but ask, "Duke Xinzheng, what's wrong?"

"Except for the three who remembered my instructions and insisted on investigating, the remaining nineteen, thirteen of them, for some reason, became timid and retreated to protect themselves. The other six must have been dragged into the water and became corrupt. They also boasted that they were smart and put on airs in front of me.

The three students who insisted on investigating, although they were upright, were too pedantic and were led by the nose without knowing it. They found some clues and thought they had caught the big borer, but they didn't know that they were all scapegoats. "

Gao Yi looked at Gao Gong's dark face and reminded him carefully: "Duke Xinzheng, there is not much gold and silver in the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse. We must make plans early."

Wang Lin and Cheng Wen were shocked. "Mr. Gao, what's going on? Isn't there a big surplus in the Ministry of Revenue's account?"

It would be fine if you didn't say it, but Gao Gong gets even angrier when he does!

He slammed the table hard, stood up with a curse, and walked back and forth anxiously with his hands behind his back.

"Surplus, it's all just on the books, it's all a scam. I originally believed it and was resting on my laurels, but it was Nan Yu who reminded me. I personally went to the warehouse and was stunned."

"What's wrong, Mr. Gao?"

"The surplus of 3.17 million taels in the account book of the Ministry of Revenue is all fucking dry firewood, dried fish, preserved fruits, lanterns, candles, paper fans, paper umbrellas, linen. All fucking worthless stuff, accounting for a full 1.46 million taels of silver. The remaining 1.71 million taels of silver is an IOU for more than 1.4 million taels of silver."

"IOU?" Wang Lin and Cheng Wen looked at each other and found it incredible. The two had been in the noble and elegant positions for a long time, so of course they didn't know that the Ministry of Revenue collected a large part of its taxes in the form of silver in kind, and that the Ministry of Revenue's treasury could also borrow money from outside.

"Yes, I don't know when it started, but it started with the nobles and relatives of the emperor. When they ran out of money, they would borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue and deduct it from their salaries.

Then this trend spread to officials in Beijing. Everyone knew the salary of our dynasty, and most of the officials in Beijing were poor and destitute, so they had to ask for help from others, find fellow townsmen and old friends who were above the third rank to write notes, and borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue, which was also deducted from their salaries.

Borrowing new debts to pay old debts, back and forth. Over time, the Ministry of Revenue had an IOU of 1.45 million taels of silver. More than 700,000 taels were borrowed by nobles and relatives, and 750,000 taels were borrowed by thousands of poor officials in Beijing. It had been accumulated for dozens or even hundreds of years, and only then did this bad debt come to light. "

Wang Lin and Cheng Wen calculated in their minds and were shocked, "Mr. Gao, there is not much cash left in the Ministry of Revenue."

"Yes. Now there are less than 300,000 taels of gold and silver. There are so many holes waiting to be filled, and so many people stretching out their hands to ask for money. It is simply not enough to spend. That is why I have made up my mind to send disciples to investigate the Lianghuai salt administration. While eliminating the bad policies, I will see if I can find some silver to make up for the deficit.

As a result, only 470,000 taels of silver were found. It was almost the end of the month, and it was time to pay the grain and salaries of the officials in the capital. However, the governor of the grain transport system kept urging the grain soldiers to pay their grain and salaries.

"The grain and wages of the grain transport troops?" Gao Yi couldn't believe it. "Duke Xinzheng, have you suspended the grain transport troops' wages?"

"The military pay has been suspended for two months. Let's fill the hole in the capital first."

Gao Yi stamped his feet and said, "Lord Xinzheng, you are so confused! The canal soldiers think they control the canal transportation. They cause trouble when they disagree with others, which delays the canal transportation.

The Ministry of Revenue is short of silver now. If the grain transport is blocked again, it will be even more troublesome!"

Gao Gong said irritably, "I know! But I also know that among the tens of thousands of soldiers on the canal, who can live on that little bit of silver? The duty-free goods they carry on each ship, from south to north and from north to south, can be divided into more than ten taels of silver per person on average after one trip.

How much money can they earn if they can make four trips a year? If they don’t get paid for two months, they won’t starve to death!”

Gao Yi said angrily, "Lord Xinzheng, this is not how you calculate the accounts. If you owe the Caojun even a penny, they will fight you to the death. Now that they are owed two months' salary, I don't know what will happen down there.

Now is the critical time to transport the autumn grain. If they make a fuss, the grain will not be transported. Lord Xinzheng, that would be a disaster!"

Gao Gong waved his hand and said, "I am not afraid of food."

"Why aren't you afraid?"

"I asked the Coordination Bureau, and they received the military rations from Jiliao, Xuanfu and other border towns. They used sea transportation to transport 1.7 million dan of rice from the southeast, Guangdong and Guangxi, Champa and Siam this year, and stored it in several warehouses in the capital and Liaodong."

"How much?" Gao Yi couldn't believe it.

"One million and seven hundred thousand dan of rice!" Gao Gong sighed with his hands behind his back, "The Maritime Transport Department of the Navy Bureau is really amazing. They quietly transported half of the grain ordered by the imperial transport bureau for a year and stored it in the capital."

Gao Yi had worked as a practical official and knew what so much food meant. "It's a good thing. There is food in the warehouse, so there is no need to worry."

Gao Gong looked respectful yet a little unwilling, "When I heard this number, I breathed a sigh of relief."

Wang Lin and Cheng Wen looked at each other and asked hesitantly, "One million and seven hundred thousand dan of rice, and millions of soldiers and civilians in the capital and the nine border areas, it doesn't seem to take long. What if the grain transport is blocked for half a month or a month?"

Gao Gong said with a complicated expression: "Liang Qianji (Liang Menglong) told me that if an emergency mobilization is needed, the Maritime Transport Department can mobilize thousands of ships to transport another 500,000 dan of rice to the north within a month. Furthermore, thousands of ships can be mobilized within two months to transport another 1 million dan of rice to the north."

Gao Yi stood up and shouted, "Great! Lord Xinzheng! With such a magnificent fleet and such a great transport capacity, the court will no longer be controlled by those bastards in the grain transport industry."

No matter how majestic or magnificent it is, it has nothing to do with me!
Gao Gong did not want to talk more about sea transportation, so he said, "Food is easy to talk about, but what about silver? After thinking it over, I can only think of two ways. One is to settle the debts as soon as possible, and the other is that a lot of pepper has been collected in the warehouse. I wonder if I can use this pepper as salary to pay it out."

Wang Lin and Cheng Wen looked at each other and thought this method seemed to work.

Zhang Siwei rolled his eyes for a while, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally remained silent.

Gao Yi stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "Duke Xinzheng, this move may cause trouble."

Gao Gong spread his hands and said helplessly: "If I can't find any more silver, I can only resort to this last resort!"

(End of this chapter)