After Zhao Huan finished speaking, the imperial court fell into silence.
The lack of silver in the national treasury was a big matter. It could not be resolved with a few words.
This was because it involved taxes.
Only by increasing taxes could the national treasury's income be increased. However, how to increase taxes and how much to increase them required discussion. This was not something that a single person could decide.
Therefore, all the ministers remained silent and did not intend to be the first to speak.
Zhao Huan knew that this would be the case, so he was not surprised.
He asked Wei Xu,"Minister Wei, you are in charge of the three divisions and the money bags of the Great Song. Tell me, what should we do?!"”
Wei Xu thought for a moment and said,"
"Your Majesty, the expenses of the Imperial Court are increasing day by day. This humble subject suggests that we abolish some unnecessary government offices, reduce some unnecessary government offices, and dismiss some incompetent officials to reduce the various expenses of the Imperial Court. In addition to taxes, under the condition of ensuring the livelihood of the people, we should reasonably increase some taxes to increase the income of the national treasury!”
Wei Xu's method was to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
From the looks of it, this was a reasonable and feasible solution.
After Wei Xu finished speaking, Li Gang stood up."Your Majesty, Lord Wei is right. Now that we're nearing the end of our years, we need to re-evaluate the officials at all levels. As for those officials who have not done anything, this humble subject suggests that they be dismissed from their posts and reduce the court's salary expenses to reduce the financial burden of the court!“
"Your Majesty, you can't!"
After Li Gang finished speaking, Tang Ke stood up and looked at Li Gang."Lord Li, the various official positions in the Great Song were set during the reign of the Great Ancestor. If you suddenly remove them, I'm afraid it will cause turmoil in the court. At that time, it will affect the stability of the court and the Great Song.”
Zhao Ding stood up." Your Majesty, what Lord Tang said makes sense. Therefore, I suggest that we discuss it first before making a further decision!"”
After Zhao Ding finished speaking, Zhang Bangchang stood up."Your Majesty, now that the Jin army has retreated, you can send someone to negotiate peace with the Jin Kingdom. Once both sides stop fighting and make peace, our Great Song will return to peace. This way, we can reduce the number of troops and reduce the expenditure of the national treasury!”
Once Zhang Bangchang finished speaking, those who advocated peace expressed that it was feasible.
For a time, the court was filled with arguments again.
In any case, they had their own opinions, but they did not agree.
Zhao Huan looked down at Bai Shizhong.""Bai Shizhong, you are now a cabinet minister. Tell me, what do you think?”
As soon as Zhao Huan spoke, everyone looked at Bai Shizhong.
When Bai Shizhong thought of what Zhao Huan had said yesterday, he finally understood what he meant. It seemed that he wanted to use the empty state treasury as an opportunity to stab some of the court officials.
He couldn't help but sigh. Tian Zi had good methods.
Bai Shizhong bowed and stepped forward." Your Majesty, what the lords said just now is not without reason, but this humble subject feels that distant water cannot quench the immediate thirst. This humble subject has also saved some silver over the years as the chief steward. This humble subject is willing to donate 70% of my family property to enrich the national treasury and share Your Majesty's worries!”
As soon as Bai Shizhong finished speaking, the expressions of many ministers changed.
Zhang Bangchang, Wu Min, Tang Ke, and the others looked at Bai Shizhong with anger and hostility in their eyes. They wanted nothing more than to swallow President Bai Shizhong alive.
When Li Gang heard this, he thought for a moment and stood up.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to donate 50% of my assets to enrich the national treasury and share your worries!”
Li Gang stood up, Zhao Ding, Li Guang, Wei Xu, and the others also stood up, expressing their willingness to donate their assets to enrich the national treasury.
Zong Ze, Zhong Shidao, and the others were also willing to donate their assets to enrich the national treasury.
Zhao Huan nodded.
"The sincerity of all of you is the blessing of the court and the rise of the Song Dynasty. How about this? I know that all of you are loyal to the monarch and love your country, but you still have to support your family. I won't force you to donate half of your assets.”
"We obey your orders!"
Zhao Huan added,"I will send Cao Jie and the rest to lead the palace guards to the capital to collect money to enrich the national treasury!"”
After saying that, Zhao Huan waved his hand and said,"You may withdraw from court!"”
After the court session ended, Zhao Huan had Cao Jie bring dozens of guards out of the palace to the capital to collect donations.
When Zhao Huan returned to Chuigong Hall, he had been thinking about whether he should sell the antiques, calligraphy, and paintings that Zhao Ji had collected. They were worth a lot of money.
After thinking about it, he decided to forget it. The imperial court was not at the end of its rope yet. He would just wait.
"Your Majesty, you've been reading memorials for a day. This lowly official will massage your shoulders!”
When Zhao Huan was reading the memorial, Zhang Yi Tong, who had already been conferred the title of Consort Jing, walked in. She came to Zhao Huan's side and spoke softly.
Zhao Huan nodded and leaned his head on the dragon throne."Consort Jing, you are so thoughtful!"
Zhang Yitong's massage skills were a little stiff. It was obvious that this was her first time massaging someone.
Under Zhang Yitong's massage, Zhao Huan actually fell asleep.
After sleeping for an unknown period of time, the sound of light footsteps could be heard outside the palace.
Zhao Huan was startled awake.
Raising his head, he saw Cao Jie standing in the middle of the hall.
Zhao Huan sat up and yawned."I actually fell asleep!"
"Your Majesty, I shall take my leave!" Zhang Yitong stood up.”
"En, you may leave. Cao Jie, how about you guys collect donations in the city?" Zhao Huan nodded.”
Cao Jie quickly handed over a booklet."Your Majesty, after a few hours of donation, a total of 200,000 taels of silver have been donated.”
Zhao Huan took the name list from Cao Jie's hands and started reading it.
The names of the people on the list varied in status.
There were prostitutes from brothels and some small vendors.
However, Zhao Huan saw a person's name.
This person was Li Shishi.
Li Shishi donated fifty thousand taels of silver, which was forty percent of the total amount.
"This Li Shishi is really generous. She donated 50,000 taels of silver at once. She's really rich!”
However, when Zhao Huan thought about the relationship between Li Shishi and Zhao Ji, he felt relieved.
This woman had a very good relationship with Zhao Ji. Presumably, Zhao Ji had rewarded Li Shishi with a lot of valuable things.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。