Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 249, the third year of the Xifeng reign, concluded!

"what?!"

"570,000 jin?"

In the Imperial Study, Zhao Ceying, Jiang Zhao, and Gu Tingye sat facing each other, the emperor and his ministers.

With a gasp, Zhao Ceying's pupils dilated slightly, his face filled with disbelief.

"Zhong Huai said 570,000 jin, not 570,000 liang?" Zhao Ceying asked in surprise.

"570,000 jin."

Gu Tingye raised his hand in a salute and solemnly affirmed.

"Hi~!"

Zhao Ceying's expression froze.

One sentence completely shattered his composure, making even his breathing heavy.

Zhao Ceying was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn't help but get up and pace back and forth with his hands behind his back.

570,000 catties of silver!
One catty of silver is equivalent to sixteen taels, so 570,000 catties of silver is equivalent to more than nine million taels.

According to common sense, one tael of silver is equivalent to one string of copper coins, but silver is lighter, so one tael of silver is usually equivalent to one and a half strings of copper coins.

Nine million taels of silver, which is roughly equivalent to fourteen million strings of copper coins.

570,000 catties of silver and 14 million strings of copper coins!
Zhao Ceying hesitated, a slight tremor running through her heart.

In terms of refining volume, this is more than double the amount refined by Da Zhou in a year.

In terms of value extraction, the annual tax revenue in previous years was only over 40 million strings of cash.

In other words, a single trip to Japan by sea brought in about one-third of the annual tax revenue!

The problem was that Gu Tingye's main purpose in leading his troops across the sea was to find silver mines. The number of craftsmen and refining equipment that accompanied them across the sea was insufficient, and the refining time was only about six months.

If there are enough craftsmen and equipment, and enough time, the specific refining volume certainly has considerable potential for increase.

If this involves thorough, long-term refining...

"call!"

Zhao Ceying let out a long sigh of relief, a hint of barely concealed excitement flashing across his face.

Sent!

"Okay, okay!"

The existence of the Iwami Silver Mine is of great significance.

On the one hand, the inflow of silver into the national treasury means that the treasury will be more abundant.

The more abundant the national treasury, the stronger the court's financial resilience.

On the other hand, a single extraction of hundreds of thousands of catties of silver means that the single copper standard will become a thing of the past, and the Great Zhou will have the capital to implement both the copper and silver standards.

Once the silver standard is adopted, large-scale transactions will become the norm.

A commodity economy is destined for prosperity!
Zhao Ceying nodded repeatedly; this was absolutely fantastic news.

Who would have thought that tiny Japan would actually have such a wealth of silver?

The ancients were right!

"Zichuan and Zhonghuai both made great contributions."

"Those who make great contributions will be richly rewarded by me!"

Zhao Ceying was greatly encouraged. With a wave of his hand, he said generously, "Zhonghuai has rendered meritorious service to the country. He is hereby granted the title of General Guide and Associate Privy Councilor. He is also granted special privileges, with an additional 500 households of fief, bringing the total to 1,500 households."

The General of Guide and the Associate Privy Councilor were granted an additional 500 households of fiefdom, making up a total of three major rewards.

Among them, the General Guide was a nominal position of the second rank, which was essentially unrelated to real power.

However, a nominal position that reaches a certain level will naturally possess some extraordinary qualities.

As a nominal second-rank official position, apart from a few rare "Grand General" nominal positions, the General of Guide is the pinnacle of military nominal positions. Even if you were to boast about it, it would still command respect.

The position of Tongzhi of the Privy Council is a second-rank position in the Privy Council, second only to a few second-rank deputy privy councilors.

The existence of this official position meant that Gu Tingye became a military general second only to the Deputy Privy Councilor, without exception.

That is, the First Capital Attendant!
In theory, the three commanders of the three major offices of the Imperial Guard are of equal status, and there is no distinction between them.

However, any military officer wearing a purple robe was definitely aiming for the position of "Deputy Privy Councilor," with the primary goal of taking charge of the Privy Council.

As the Deputy Privy Councilor, Gu Tingye's position was naturally higher than the other two Commanders of the Privy Council.

Adding 500 households to the fiefdom, bringing the total to 1,500 households, is also a first-class reward.

In fact, the granting of fiefs has always been a very grand and generous reward.

Apart from Jiang Zhao and Han Zhang, the vast majority of retired prime ministers and grand secretaries had only three or four thousand households, while the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet had only one or two thousand households.

Jiang Zhao's fiefdom of 7,500 households and Han Zhang's fiefdom of 9,300 households were both privileges afforded to "favored ministers," something that was rare and hard to come by.

Therefore, a fiefdom of 1,500 households was already a first-rate status among civil and military officials, quite extraordinary.

On the military side, apart from the Duke of Yingguo and the Marquis of Zhongjing, Zheng Shun, the other three deputy privy councilors might not actually have fiefs of 1,500 households.

The reward was a substantial one: a nominal second-rank official position, a substantive second-rank position in the Privy Council, and an additional 500 households of fiefdom.

Gu Tingye was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply, saying, "Your subject Gu Tingye thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

Is crossing the sea difficult?

bitter!
But such a generous reward makes all the hardship and toil worthwhile.

Zhao Ceying nodded, his hands behind his back.

In fact, considering the strategic significance of silver, Gu Tingye could have bestowed an even greater reward upon it.

Unfortunately, no!
The credit doesn't belong solely to Gu Tingye.

As the person who planned the silver trade in Japan, Jiang Zhao deserves a share of the credit, or even most of it.

This is the difference between a planner and an executor.

Commanding troops across the sea, as the executor, is highly replaceable.

Even without Gu Tingye, there would be Wang Shao, Yao Si, Zheng Xiao, Zhang Ding...

It's not that just anyone can do it, but there are certainly quite a few capable people.

On the other hand, those who strategize are virtually irreplaceable.

Only Jiang Zhao is capable of strategizing!
Without Jiang Zhao's planning, there wouldn't even have been the project of leading troops across the sea.

Therefore, as the architect, Jiang Zhao would naturally take a considerable share of the credit.

"Zichuan has rendered meritorious service in the planning and is hereby granted the title of Grand Master of the Palace, with a fief of one thousand households and three hundred taels of gold. His eldest son, Jiang Huaijin, is hereby granted the title of Grand Master of the Palace," Zhao Ceying said calmly.

He was granted the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments!
Jiang Zhao was taken aback.

The title of "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" is a type of honorary official post.

Generally speaking, a third-rank civil official could concurrently serve as a third-rank Silver-Blue Grand Master of the Palace, a second-rank civil official could concurrently serve as a second-rank Gold-Purple Grand Master of the Palace, and a first-rank civil official could concurrently serve as a first-rank Grand Master of the Palace.

However, there are also some special cases that enjoy even more special honors.

The title of "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" is one of the special honors.

To be precise, this is one of the ultimate honors in a civil official's career.

The title of "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" was originally an official position in the Han Dynasty. The recipient of this title was allowed to build his own government office and appoint his own staff, with the same ceremonial standards as the Three Dukes.

However, after a long period of development and inheritance, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the title of "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" had already become more of an honorary position.

The Great Zhou Dynasty inherited the practices of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, incorporating it into the ranks of honorary positions, serving only as a symbol of the highest honor.

In terms of prestige, it is almost second only to the "Three Publics" (official reception, official vehicles, and overseas travel).

Normally, once an official's rank reaches a certain level, he will automatically have a corresponding honorary official position.

It's not unusual for second-rank officials to all be Grand Masters of the Palace (金紫光禄大夫), and for first-rank officials to all be Grand Masters of the Palace (光禄大夫).

However, the title of "Kaifu Yitong Sansi" is different.

Specifically, the method of granting the title of Grand Master of the Three Offices was more similar to that of the Three Dukes, that is, it was granted to retired officials or deceased Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

Once they retired or passed away, almost all Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were posthumously granted the title of Grand Master of the Three Offices, and those with real ability were awarded the title of one of the Three Dukes.

However, before retiring from office or before passing away, one would almost never be granted the titles of Grand Master of the Three Offices or the Three Dukes.

The main reason for this is the issue of posthumous honors and conferment of titles upon those who retire or pass away.

Before retiring from office, one was already a Grand Master of the Palace (金紫光禄大夫), and was subsequently granted the additional title of Grand Master of the Palace (光禄大夫).

Before retiring from office, one was already a Grand Master of the Palace, and was entitled to additional titles and posthumous honors such as Grand Master of the Palace.

Before retiring from office, one was a Grand Master of the Palace, which meant that any posthumous or conferred official rank would at least be one of the Three Dukes.

Even worse, they might have to be granted additional titles or posthumously honored as kings!
For a monarch, things involving "guarantees" are naturally better to be as few as possible.

Therefore, for an official to be granted the title of Grand Master of the Three Offices before even retiring from office was a highly prestigious honor.

Even among prime ministers and high-ranking officials, very few were granted titles before they had even retired from office.

In recent years, apart from Grand Chancellor Han Zhang, who was granted the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments before retiring from office, there has been no other like him.

This is the highest honorary title!
"Your subject Jiang Zhao thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!" Jiang Zhao quickly bowed.

Zhao Ceying nodded.

"List the remaining soldiers and craftsmen who crossed the sea and submit their names to the cabinet," Zhao Ceying said, waving his hand. "From top to bottom, those with minor merits will be exempt from taxes, and those with major merits will be promoted to higher official positions."

"Yes, sir." Gu Tingye quickly bowed.

After a cursory glance, having already decided on the rewards, Gu Tingye continued, "The 570,000 catties of silver have been temporarily stored by the bank manager, Zhang Heng. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave."

It has been more than two hundred days since we crossed the sea in February.

A rough calculation shows that his eldest son, Gu Shutuan, is almost two years old, and Gu Tingye is eager to return home. "Hmm."

Zhao Ceying nodded and waved his hand.

Gu Tingye raised his hand in a salute and slowly withdrew.

The window was half-closed, and the emperor and his ministers faced each other.

Jiang Zhao passed over a cabinet document and said calmly, "Wang Shao submitted a document stating that the Liao Kingdom is showing signs of making trouble."

In addition to writing a separate letter to Jiang Zhao, Wang Shao also submitted relevant documents to the cabinet.

To avoid any misunderstanding, Jiang Zhao submitted official documents to his superiors rather than exchanging letters privately.

"The Liao Dynasty?"

Zhao Ceying's expression was solemn as he picked up the document and began to read it.

In terms of content, there is not much difference between the two forms of statements, namely documents and letters. The only difference is that letters contain more information and occasionally include Wang Shao's subjective intuition.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

The document was placed in the corner of the wooden table. Zhao Ceying pondered for a moment and then asked, "What are your thoughts, Jiang Qing?"

"The Liao Dynasty usually launched its southward campaigns during the spring and autumn seasons when the water and grass were plentiful, and the wars were launched in March and September."

Jiang Zhao stated, "It is now the end of October. In my opinion, there is a high probability that there will be no large-scale war."

"However, we must not slacken our efforts in the border war. Why not raise the price of grain in the border areas and have the salt merchants transport grain into the border regions to prepare for a large-scale war?"

The implementation of the Securities Law has made the regulation of salt and grain prices crucial.

If there is war on the border, grain prices can be appropriately raised to encourage salt merchants to transport grain during the war and make a fortune.

"The ceramic bombs from the bomb workshop can also be put into mass production," Jiang Zhao added.

Generally speaking, the destructive power of a bomb mainly comes from the flying fragments, and the bombs that Shen Kuo studied were no exception.

Thus, the ceramic bomb came into being.

Sturdy yet lightweight!
These are two key characteristics of ceramics, making them quite suitable as containers for bombs.

In terms of cost price, ceramics are also acceptable.

The main costs of ceramics produced by the official kilns were labor, clay, and firewood. For ceramics specially made for bombs, the cost could be controlled to around ten or twenty coins.

Twenty or twenty coins was certainly not cheap, but it wasn't expensive either; it was still within the range that the imperial treasury could afford.

"can."

Zhao Ceying nodded.

Prevention is always better than cure.

“However…” Zhao Ceying hesitated, “Who is suitable to be the commander of the frontier?”

Since the opening of the border at Xihe, for about ten years, Jiang Zhao was the main commander of the frontier, and even the Duke of Ying, the top military general, could only be ranked behind him.

Civil officials and scholars, young and vigorous, experienced, and with outstanding achievements…

Without exception, they all possess top-tier advantages.

Logically speaking, given the Liao Kingdom's restless nature and the potential for a large-scale war, Jiang Zhao should have been the primary commander.

The problem is that Jiang Zhao is not only the first choice for commander-in-chief, but also the undisputed core of the reform!
All reforms are continuous, so those who carry out reforms should not leave the capital easily, lest the reforms encounter unexpected changes.

"Duke of Yingguo, Marquis of Ningyuan, Earl of Zhennan, Marquis of Zhongjing."

Regarding the choice of commander-in-chief, Jiang Zhao had considered it and slowly said, "If the Duke of Ying is still able to go on the expedition, then the Duke of Ying will be the leader, with Gu Tingye and Wang Shao as his assistants; if the Duke of Ying is unable to go on the expedition, then either Gu Tingye or Wang Shao will be chosen, with the Marquis of Zhongjing as his assistant."

“The British Duke…” Zhao Ceying frowned, looking troubled.

The Duke of England is an elder statesman, already sixty-six years old.

At this age, the fear is that he might go into battle alive, only to return dead from illness!
Given the immense risks, sending them on the expedition would only make the monarch appear inconsiderate.

"Could we combine the strength of Gu Tingye and Wang Shao, without having to send the Duke of Yingguo on the expedition?" Zhao Ceying asked, frowning.

Regarding the pairing of generals for border defense, Jiang Zhao mentioned two scenarios:

First, there is the Duke of England, with the Duke of England as the main figure and Gu Tingye and Wang Shao as his assistants.

Second, without the Duke of England, one of Gu Tingye or Wang Shao will be the principal leader, with the Marquis of Zhongjing as the assistant.

There are two ways to combine them, and the first combination is far superior to the second.

It wasn't because the Duke of Ying was capable, but because Gu Tingye and Wang Shao were both capable.

However, upon closer examination, there is actually one missing case.

There was no Duke of England, but both Gu Tingye and Wang Shao held that title.

Zhao Ceying pondered for a moment, then added, "Given Gu Tingye and Wang Shao's military command abilities, if they enter the border together, the presence or absence of the Duke of Yingguo won't significantly affect the overall strategy."

This is not just idle talk.

In terms of experience and achievements in commanding troops, neither Gu Tingye nor Wang Shao alone could compare to the British general.

In particular, in terms of achievements, the Duke of England, after half a lifetime of trials and tribulations, tended to "maintain the status quo," while Gu Tingye and Wang Shao were both pioneers who expanded the territory.

Putting aside seniority, in terms of merit alone, the Duke of Yingguo is definitely inferior to Wang Shao and Gu Tingye!
With just a glance, Jiang Zhao knew what Zhao Ceying was thinking. He shook his head and asked calmly, "If both of them go to the border, who will Your Majesty appoint as commander-in-chief?"

With a single sentence, Zhao Ceying's hopes were easily dashed.

Among the military generals, Gu Tingye and Wang Shao have the most unique resumes. Both of them were major contributors to the expansion of territory by participating in two major territorial expansions.

One man, through territorial expansion, donned a purple robe and inherited a noble title; another man, through territorial expansion, achieved a hereditary title that would last forever, sharing the fate of the nation.

In terms of achievements, both of them are in a class of their own among military generals.

In terms of official rank, both men were commanders of a department, wielding immense real power.

The difference between the two is negligible.

In fact, whether the Duke of England is capable of fighting is not important. What is important is that, in terms of overall qualifications and experience, the Duke of England can temporarily suppress Gu Tingye and Wang Shao.

Conversely, if the Duke of England were not present, the two of them would enter the border together.

If Gu Tingye were the commander, Wang Shao would definitely be dissatisfied.

Conversely, if Wang Shao were the commander, Gu Tingye would certainly be dissatisfied.

The reason for this is that falling behind even one step leads to falling behind at every step.

The slight difference in their official ranks only meant that their opportunities and achievements differed temporarily, not that they had different abilities in commanding troops.

However, if one of them is the main player and the other is the supporting player, it is equivalent to forcibly determining who is superior to whom.

If the two of them go on an expedition together, this time Gu Tingye will be the commander-in-chief, and next time Gu Tingye will definitely be the leader, with Wang Shao as his assistant.

After all, last time it was Gu Tingye who was in charge!

Conversely, the same applies.

This time Wang Shao took the lead, will he still take the lead next time?

If that's the case, falling behind once means falling behind for life.

Who would agree to that?
This is different from the situation where there is a head coach above.

If there is a commander above them who can keep both of them in check, and both of them command an army, then their status is equal, with no distinction between high and low. The only difference might be a temporary difference in their achievements, which is not surprising.

However, if there is no commander-in-chief, then the two are in an unequal position, with one as the master and the other as the assistant.

The person in charge will subconsciously keep pointing out the leader's minor mistakes, and may even express opposing opinions, in order to express their dissatisfaction.

In this situation, unless there is a significant difference in ability between the commander and his assistant, the outcome will most likely be a protracted struggle, constant infighting, and a difficult-to-determine result.

Can this win a battle?
Zhao Ceying understood and sighed, "You can't have your cake and eat it too. I was momentarily blinded by greed."

Actually, he wasn't unaware of this principle.

It was just wishful thinking, hoping to have the best of both worlds.

After all, with Gu Tingye and Wang Shao's abilities, the two of them working together are quite formidable.

If we could avoid causing trouble for the old General Duke of Ying and still allow Gu Tingye and Wang Shao to enter the border, that would naturally be the ideal outcome.

"In that case, let Wang Shao temporarily lead the border troops."

Zhao Ceying said in a deep voice, "If chaos breaks out on the border, we will send General Yingguo and Zhonghuai to the border to maintain stability."

This arrangement was made primarily based on three considerations:
Firstly, the probability of a border war is low, and the Duke of England is already very old; it's best not to cause trouble for him.

Secondly, Gu Tingye had only recently arrived in the capital, so it was not appropriate to send him to the border to fight immediately.

Thirdly, given Wang Shao's abilities, even if a real war breaks out, he can temporarily stabilize the border.

Comparatively speaking, this is already the best choice.

Jiang Zhao nodded and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise."

……

On the first day of the eleventh month, two imperial edicts were issued.

An imperial edict was related to the silversmith.

The government summoned skilled silversmiths to the capital to participate in silver refining, and those who made contributions were granted official positions.

An imperial edict was sent to the frontier, mainly to address any emergencies that might occur there, thus granting greater authority.

If chaos breaks out on the border, Wang Shao can temporarily lead the troops of Hedong Road to resist the enemy.

However, by the end of November, no major moves by the Liao Kingdom had been observed.

And so, November, December...

The third year of the Xifeng era has come to an end!
……

(End of this chapter)