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Chapter 700: If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are of the essence, why should we av

Chapter 700: If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are of the essence, why should we avoid it because of fortune or disaster!
But the key point is that five million strings of cash should be withdrawn on the books, but in reality only four million strings of cash could be withdrawn from the treasury. When it came to the local level, the money was deducted at every level, and the normal and reasonable "loss" alone reached one million strings of cash, not to mention the money that was privately withheld by corrupt officials.

In the end, the actual amount was only 2.5 million strings of cash, half of which was lost as "loss"!
The so-called loss was called fire consumption after the Ming Dynasty. It literally refers to the depreciation when the broken silver is melted and recast into silver ingots. In fact, it is various additional taxes imposed by government agencies at all levels.

There are those from the central government and those from prefectures, counties and districts. It is difficult to define whether they are reasonable or legal. This has been a confusing account from ancient times to the present. It is not that it cannot be calculated clearly, but that it cannot be calculated at all. It is a vague elastic space between the theoretical budget of the court and the actual local needs.

Officials who are familiar with the inside story know that these losses are fundamentally due to a lack of a large component, namely, there is a rigid and objective need for government at all levels to maintain local governance, as well as gray income that some officials at all levels use to enrich themselves.

The reason why it is impossible to calculate clearly is that, after all, this part was designed from the beginning to reasonably decompose the annual "deficit" of the national treasury to all parts of the country, with each place taking on a little bit, and digesting it bit by bit.

Otherwise, what should be done with the deficits? Can the court really borrow money to make up for them? In this era, there are no banks that can print money, let alone issuing bonds. If last year's deficit is made up this year, what should be done with this year's deficit?
However, due to the lack of supervision by the court, this area often gives government officials at all levels the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

The governance of the country is a very complicated matter. It is not like the financial management of a company where every penny is calculated clearly and strictly followed according to the budget plan. Li Yan had learned some of these details when he was in the Qing Dynasty, and he saw them more clearly when he arrived in the Tang Dynasty.

Wei Zheng was even more aware of Li Yandu's innocence. After Li Shimin came to power, he tightened his belt and did not save much money in three years.

Although Wei Zheng was not in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he knew that the money and grain accumulated by the court from the Northern Expedition against the Turks would not exceed five million strings of silver if converted into silver.

Now, the Flying Tiger Army alone spent more than ten days to raise a huge fortune of nearly 20 million strings of cash. For Li Shimin, this was an astronomical figure that he could not refuse. With this money, it was more than enough for both fighting and dealing with the aftermath.

No wonder that recently in the court, although the ministers were uneasy, Li Shimin was in a good mood every day, as if he had unloaded a heavy burden. Sometimes he could even joke with these ministers. After all the effort, the military funds for the Northern Expedition were finally settled.

Thinking of this, Wei Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. Since this was not an ordinary corruption case, he felt relieved.

With Li Shimin's endorsement, it's no wonder that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so fearless. I really worried for nothing.

Come to think of it, a case involving nearly 20 million guan happened in the area personally presided over by the prince, but it went unnoticed. Not only the emperor was unaware of it, but even people like Fang Xuanling and Gao Shilian chose to ignore it, and all the ministers in the court acted as if nothing had happened.

Only I am still foolishly kept in the dark
Wei Zheng threw the account book on the table in a bad mood and said with some emotion: "It seems that I have been worrying about Your Highness in vain."

"I appreciate your concern, sir."

Li Yan said sincerely: "However, the play has come to this point. Next, it is time for adults to come on stage. Whether Cheng Qian can get through this safely also depends on your help."

Seeing Wei Zheng's puzzled expression, Li Yan said, "Although I had to do this, the fact that things went so smoothly was not without the support of my brothers. If things go wrong, I'm afraid it won't be easy for Cheng Qian to get out safely."

"Oh, what do you say?"

Wei Zheng was stunned, and immediately patted his chest and said generously: "Your Highness, for the sake of the millions of people and the country of the Tang Dynasty, disregarded his own reputation, risked losing his position as crown prince, and personally came to the battlefield to share the country's worries. What else can I say?"

"As long as it is for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, I, an old minister, will obey your orders."

Although he knew it was not difficult to persuade Wei Zheng with righteousness, Li Yan did not expect that this stubborn old man would give in so easily. This can only mean that in Wei Zheng's heart, he really adhered to his beliefs and put the world first.

Li Yan perked up and introduced the details in the account book to Wei Zheng: "Please see, sir. Hu Lixian, the General of the Front Guard, is the nephew of Cen Wenben, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and is from the line of the King of Shu. Zhou Yande, the General of the Right Guard, is the nephew of Du Chuke, the Minister of Works, and is from the line of the King of Wei."

"Zhongwei Zhonglangjiang Luo Ensheng is the son-in-law of Xue Guogong Changsun Shunde."

"The generals, lieutenants, brigade commanders and other officers under the several ministries have limited financial resources, so a small half of them are hired from their respective factions, and a large half are hired from the children of the noble families in the court. They all got to their positions by buying money."

"The most arrogant one among them is Qi Wang Li You who lives far away in Shandong!"

At this point, Li Yan said angrily: "Except for Liang Sijin, the left guard general, who is the brother-in-law of the King of Qi, the left guard general Hu San and the right guard general Zhou Yansi, as well as more than 200 officers and soldiers, are basically the King of Qi's trusted men." "Now the entire left guard of the Flying Tiger Army has 2,000 people. I'm afraid that the words of me, the Flying Tiger General, are not as effective as those of the King of Qi!"

Wei Zheng frowned as he listened to Li Yan's introduction of the forces and distribution behind these people. A Flying Tiger Army with various kings and forces getting involved, Wei Zheng knew very well what this meant.

This shows that the three parties, the King of Shu, the King of Wei and the King of Qi, are all targeting the prince. On the one hand, they spend money to send themselves into the Flying Tiger Army and secretly control the military power; on the other hand, they probably want to detonate the corruption of the Flying Tiger Army when the time is right and drive the prince out of the East Palace.

Perhaps there were open and covert struggles among these three princes, but when it came to dealing with the crown prince, their interests were the same, so they took the same action.

I'm afraid that the calmness in the court during this period is also related to the deliberate neglect and suppression of these people.

Thinking about the anonymous letter in the evening, Wei Zheng now understood everything. They had discussed it and decided to kill the prince first, and they would not show up in person, but let him, the minister of remonstration, take the lead.

Wei Zheng could almost imagine that as long as he reported the matter of the Flying Tiger Army in the court, the people of the King of Shu, the King of Wei and the King of Qi in the court would all rise up to support him.

After a lot of complaints, the prince was forced out of the Eastern Palace.

The crown prince was worried about state affairs and was willing to sacrifice his own position as crown prince to cooperate with the emperor in staging such a drama. However, those princes ignored the overall situation and not only ignored the impending war between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks, but also secretly took action and stared at the crown prince.

He only cares about his own interests and doesn't care about the safety of the court.
Looking at the depressed young prince in front of him, he originally thought that the prince was in a glorious position, but he did not expect that he had so many enemies in secret, staring at him all day long, trying to find something to hold against him.

A common man is innocent, and even a man hiding his wall is innocent!
It was really too arrogant. As a loyal minister serving the country, Wei Zheng felt that whether the prince was qualified for the position of crown prince was one thing, but the secret plots and frame-ups by the kings were another. At least in this matter, Wei Zheng felt that the prince did nothing wrong.

Wei Zheng was also happy to see that the money from the princes and wealthy families who did not do their work all day long was used to fill the emptiness of the national treasury and avoid taxing the people.

Thinking of this, Wei Zheng looked at Li Yan with emotion. After hesitating for a while, he knelt down on the ground and said excitedly: "Your Highness, on behalf of the people of the world and millions of people, I thank Your Highness for your kindness."

"Please get up, sir! I am sorry for the trouble!"

Li Yan hurriedly stepped forward to help Wei Zheng up: "I am the crown prince, the future ruler of the world. If I don't consider the people of the world, how can I ask others to do that? I can accept the courtesy of everyone in the court, except yours, please get up quickly!"

"But, after this incident, Your Highness will punish the kings and the dignitaries in the court, right?" Wei Zheng said worriedly after he stood up.

Li Yan sighed, his face showing a resolute expression, "I will go forward even if there are thousands of people against me." He raised his head and chest and said passionately: "If it is beneficial to the country, I will do it regardless of life or death. I will not avoid it because of good or bad luck!"

Just one sentence, like the sound of a huge bell, struck Wei Zheng's mind heavily.

Wei Zheng's heart was in turmoil. He had never been in close contact with the prince before and usually only saw his weakness and stupidity. But tonight's conversation made him have a new understanding of the young man in front of him.

The prince was willing to sacrifice himself for the people, and he was not afraid of offending the powerful officials in the court. He valued the well-being of the country and the people more than his own honor and disgrace. Wei Zheng could see that once this case was exposed, if Li Shimin was a little shaken and could not withstand the pressure from his ministers, the East Palace might change hands?

But the boy opposite, with a look of no regrets on his slightly immature face, told me that he knew what he was doing.

Moreover, he could say, "If it is beneficial to the country, I will not avoid it because of good fortune or disaster!" "A man can use copper as a mirror to adjust his clothes; he can use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall; he can use people as a mirror to understand gains and losses!" How could a person who has such famous sayings throughout the ages be so unbearable?
Perhaps the prince's vision, talent, and courage were far superior to those of his ministers, but due to Li Shimin's authority and the jealousy of the other princes, his performance was mediocre.

Thinking of this, Wei Zheng became excited. With a wise and capable emperor like Li Shimin and a talented future emperor like Li Chengqian, the Tang Dynasty would be truly stable as long as there were two generations of wise emperors taking over.

Together with the governance of Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, Xiao Yu and himself, a group of wise ministers who have emerged from troubled times, we will surely be able to create a prosperous country that far surpasses the previous Sui Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)

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