Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 95 Officially Participating in Politics
If Zhao Xin sold all of his silk production in a year and collected all the profits, his net income would be 18,000 strings of cash.

Of course, the reality is that it is impossible to sell the products just by saying so, and the turnover of funds cannot be so fast.

Even a large transaction like this is not something that everyone can handle.

But in short, Zhao Xin still has these several thousand strings of cash.

After all, his annual salary alone was two thousand four hundred strings of cash.

In Tokyo City, although Zhao Xin had not counted the number of people, there should be quite a few who are as wealthy as he is.

There is a rumor that peddlers and hawkers in the Song Dynasty have started wearing silk.

This does not mean that these peddlers themselves are rich, but that the people behind these peddlers are rich.

For example, the clothes and attire of servants in some wealthy families might be worth dozens of strings of cash.

This is the truth of the matter.

And in Tokyo City, there are plenty of such slaves.

Be it male or female.

This shows how rich their owners are.

of course!

This is actually a good thing for Zhao Xin.

Because if you don't spend lavishly like this, it will be difficult for him to sell the silk and other things in his hands.

Zhao Xin wished they could change their clothes every day.

After inspecting the army outside, on the way back, Zhao Zhen looked at the sky outside and couldn't help showing a worried look.

Zhao Xin also looked at the sky outside, and then asked, "Dad, what are you looking at?"

Zhao Zhen then said, "Since winter, there has not been a single rain until now. Dad is worried about the drought this year."

Zhao Xin said, "Dad, you are not going to spend a lot of money to hire monks or Taoist priests to pray for rain, are you?"

Zhao Zhen: "..."

Zhao Xin: "I think money should be spent wisely. Dad, if you have that much money, why don't I help you pray for rain and you give me the money?"

Zhao Zhen said in disbelief: "Can you pray for rain?"

Zhao Xin: "Praying for rain is just a performance. When the time comes, I will use my status as a prince to build a high platform, kneel on it twice, and show my respect to the people. Maybe this way, I can even gain a good reputation."

Zhao Zhen: "..."

After a pause, Zhao Zhen said, "How could you come up with such a bad idea?"

Zhao Xin: "That's why I can save so much money. Dad, I think we should collect taxes from monks!"

This topic jumped too quickly.

Zhao Zhen asked, "Why?"

Zhao Xin: "Because monks are a group of people who can get paid without working, the money they collect is comparable to that of the country. Daddy, didn't you see that Emperor Wuzong of Tang destroyed Buddhism? At that time, tens of millions of acres of good farmland were confiscated, and there were 150,000 slaves and servants."

Zhao Zhen said, "But now is not the Tang Dynasty."

Zhao Xin: "Anyway... this thing should be suppressed. Dad, don't go to the temple all the time. You must give money away for nothing every time you go. If you are really that rich, you might as well give it to me. Maybe I can support a few more refugees."

The world is peaceful now, so it is difficult to find a reason to regulate Buddhism.

but……

At least keep his father stable first!
in fact……

With his identity, it was not very appropriate for him to persuade his father. After all, his father prayed to gods and Buddhas for two things. One was to pray for his deceased children and to pray for another son. The second was usually to pray for things like rain.

This behavior of not allowing his father to pray to gods and Buddha is somewhat like saying, Daddy, please don't have this child!

I feel like after you give birth, I won't be able to hold this official position anymore.

In fact, next... Zhao Zhen did doubt Zhao Xin's motives and asked, "Why didn't you let your father pray to the gods when you were most excited?"

You are a small person and it doesn't seem like this is something you should be involved in.

Zhao Xin also replied: "Because I am familiar with Tang history, I fully support the viewpoint of Fu Yi, the Grand Historian of the early Tang Dynasty. These monks and the like do not do any work on weekdays and are parasites of the country. It's just that I can't find a good reason to punish them at present. Otherwise, I will ask them to hand over all their money."

"But...it's not impossible to make use of these monks and the like."

Zhao Zhen: "..."

Zhao Xin: "Don't monks like to burn incense? Give them all the incense to sell, and deceive those wealthy believers by saying that this incense is good. Then, we can sell it for three or five strings of cash, which costs only a few dozen coins. We get seven and they get three, so we can make a lot of profit. But this kind of thing can't be done openly, it has to be done secretly."

"Of course, those monks are not fools. Maybe, once they find out there is a business opportunity, they will just leave us alone and do it on their own."

"So...it's better to just kill them."

Zhao Zhen: "I'm glad you have such a murderous aura. Since the Five Dynasties, the monks have become much more obedient, so Emperor Taizu kept them here to appease the people. Of course, these monks have their faults, but it's not entirely true to say that they are completely useless."

Zhao Xin looked at his father and did not refute. He just reminded him again: "Just don't give money to the temple anymore, Dad."

Zhao Zhen had no choice but to pinch Zhao Xin's face.

He has just taken charge of military and national affairs, and now he has started to manage his father. If he is made the General of Tiance, wouldn't he be on top of the world?
By then, he might really become Li Yuan.

Outside the team.

People like Ouyang Xiu seemed to have noticed the unusual weather.

While riding on a horse, he sighed, "I'm afraid there will be another drought this year."

Drought means thieves will arise.

after all……

The people of the Song Dynasty were the most active in their rebellion.

After returning...

Zhao Xin then began to order people to make weapons.

As for this armor...

Let’s play them one by one.

After all, if they are piled together, they may not be able to be worn in a short period of time.

Just tailor it for five or ten people first.

After all, they are his own personal soldiers, so of course they cannot be treated the same as those recruited soldiers. Sometimes even their armor does not fit them well.

And next...

This situation was similar to what Ouyang Xiu had expected. Due to the long drought and the frequent wars in Shaanxi, the corvée required based on the principle of proximity would definitely be much more than that required in other places.

For example, transporting military rations and so on, these corvée labors must have been imposed on the local people.

The people were already unable to survive under the heavy corvee labor, and since it did not rain that summer, a peasant uprising quietly broke out at this time.

And not only that…

May.

Metropolitan Hall.

It means the Political Affairs Hall.

In the second month after Zhao Xin officially participated in government affairs, he first received a report from the Jinzouyuan saying that Tiger Wing soldier Wang Lun rebelled in Yizhou.

can only say……

Even his own troops rebelled. Sure enough, this was a sign of the country's demise.

(End of this chapter)