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

Chapter 282 Even the Grand Chancellor couldn't persuade me!
The fifth year of the Xifeng era passed quickly!

At the end of September, an envoy arrived from Dali. His name was Duan Lianyi, and he was the son of Duan Silian, the king of Dali.

If nothing unexpected happens, Duan Lianyi will have a nephew named Duan Zhengchun, who is the prototype of "Prince Duan" in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

However, unlike the Dali royal family in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" who held stable power and were respected by the people, they were not like the royal family of Dali.

In the present-day Dali royal family, King Duan Silian is inept at political maneuvering, and power is basically in the hands of the powerful minister Gao Zhisheng and his son.

The royal family was almost reduced to puppets.

The fact that King Duan Silian of Dali appointed his son Duan Lianyi as envoy was undoubtedly a rare "high-level" mission.

Besides offering tribute, this move actually had another purpose—Duan Lianyi earnestly requested the Great Zhou to send troops to the south to conquer Dali, to restore order to the vassal state, and to purge the powerful ministers!
Such a demand is undoubtedly wishful thinking.

As expected, Duan Lianyi was rejected.

After all, for the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was better for Dali to be a little chaotic.

The more internal turmoil Dali experiences, the more stable the southwestern border becomes!

At the end of October, the results regarding the grain yield in the fifth year of the Xifeng reign were obtained.

Harvest!
Therefore, Jiang Zhao ordered the Ministry of Revenue to levy large quantities of grain and fodder to ensure sufficient supplies for the Northern Expedition.

At the end of November, Prince Shu, Zhao Zongquan, passed away.

Since being adopted by the Prince of Wei, Emperor Zhao Ceying has nominally become a member of Emperor Taizong's lineage.

In legal terms, Prince Shu, Zhao Zongquan, was actually Zhao Ceying's "uncle," not his father.

However, as his biological father, Zhao Ceying couldn't help but feel sorrow.

Within a single day, an imperial decree was issued, posthumously granting the title of Prince Kang and ordering a reduced funeral in accordance with established rites.

He posthumously conferred the title of King of Wu upon Zhao Hao, son of King Kang, and the title of King Run upon Zhao E, with their fiefdoms in Yuzhou.

Zhao Hao and Zhao E were both Zhao Ceying's younger brothers.

The two had not been granted titles before.

The main reason is that Zhao Ceying's power was not stable before.

As the nominal son of the King of Wei, rather than the son of Zhao Zongquan, Zhao Ceying's ascension to the throne was based on the principle of "adoption".

With the emperor's power still unstable, it was not appropriate to bestow titles upon his two younger brothers in order to avoid anyone using this as an excuse to say that "his body was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han."

Now that his father has passed away and the monarchy is secure, Zhao Ceying has no need to worry and simply bestows two royal titles upon them.

Subsequently, Zhao Ceying, as someone "still within the five degrees of mourning," also observed three months of mourning for the Prince of Shu.

The mourning period is three days, which is equivalent to observing a three-day mourning period.

……

Autumn departs and winter is stored away; the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The Secretariat, the Hall of State Affairs.

From top to bottom, on the left and right, stood chairs, and the six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet took their seats one by one.

"Rumor has it that both the Liao and Xia kingdoms have made unusual moves."

Jiang Zhao picked up a document and glanced at it indifferently: "The Emperor has decided that there will be no need for public discussions on the annual budget this year."

"The cabinet can simply red-tie the annual budget documents submitted by all the government departments."

With just one sentence, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were taken aback, and then they all realized what was going on, and their expressions changed slightly.

The unusual movements in the Liao and Xia states are not surprising.

In order to achieve a great victory in the southern campaign, both countries chose to fight a desperate battle with their backs to the wall, and mobilized their troops on a large scale.

If the soldiers make unusual movements, the provisions will naturally follow suit.

Both countries mobilized around 100,000 troops, a truly massive scale and a considerable amount of activity.

This meant that the news of the Liao and Xia states' military action could not be hidden any longer.

Recently, troops and provisions have been continuously being conscripted and sent to the border in preparation for resisting the enemy.

but.
"Not even considering the annual budget?!"

Yuan Jiang, a Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, had a long beard. He paused, stroking his beard, and asked with a solemn expression, "May I ask, Grand Secretary, does His Majesty intend to lead the army on a northern expedition?"

The annual planning and policy discussion is of great significance.

Even considering the possibility that the Liao and Xia kingdoms might recklessly wage war, the only consequence was that some pacification commissioners and prefects of important towns were not required to come to the capital.

As for the various government departments in the capital, they naturally still need to discuss and deliberate on state affairs.

As a result, the government decided not to hold an annual budget.

Aside from the fact that the emperor intended to go north and disliked the time wasted on annual tax and political discussions, Yuan Jiang couldn't think of any other possibility.

"On the third day of the first lunar month, the army marched north."

Jiang Zhao put his hands down and said calmly, "Given the Emperor's temperament, I estimate that he will make the public announcement around the 27th or 28th of the twelfth lunar month."

Generally speaking, it is taboo for an emperor to personally lead a military campaign on a whim.

Otherwise, they might suffer a crushing defeat, or even end up like Mingbao Zong, having to study abroad.

However, all of this is based on the premise that it is a "genuine spur-of-the-moment decision".

The main drawback of this impromptu decision was the lack of adequate logistical support, such as provisions and weapons.

Zhao Ceying is different.

Since September, the Great Zhou has been preparing for a major battle and has been continuously transporting grain to the border.

This means that even if Zhao Ceying makes a "last-minute announcement," it won't have any impact.

After all, the actual transportation of military equipment and supplies took at least six months to prepare.

"Does the eldest son have any advice to offer?"

Yuan Jiang frowned, not supporting the emperor's northern expedition: "The continuous battles are too exhausting; it would be impossible for an ordinary person to sustain such an expedition."

The others nodded repeatedly.

Yuan Jiang's words are not without reason.

The constant warfare was too much for an ordinary person to handle.

For this reason, there is already a trend of rotating the Imperial Guards in the suburbs.

Although both were campaigns, the soldiers of the Northern Expedition and the soldiers of the Southern Expedition were definitely not the same group of people.

People like Gu Tingye and Wang Shao are naturally gifted and have the demeanor of famous generals. They are also in the prime of their lives and are full of energy. It is estimated that they can withstand two consecutive wars without any problems.

But the Emperor is not a gifted individual!

If this were a northern expedition, wouldn't they be exhausted?
"I tried to persuade them."

Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow and shook his head: "But the Emperor has lofty ambitions, and it's really impossible to persuade him otherwise."

The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet exchanged glances, all with unusual expressions.

Lofty aspirations?!
As the saying goes, the one who tied the knot must untie it.

But, is it possible that even the Grand Chancellor couldn't solve the puzzle of the First Emperor of All Time?

"Wear red."

"In a little while, the scholars will go and persuade them themselves."

Jiang Zhao shook his head, showing no intention of discussing the matter further.

Several bundles of accounting documents were passed down.

"Grand Secretary Han covered the red documents from the Ministry of War, the Frontier Bureau, the Censorate, and the Censorate."

"Grand Secretary Zhang was covered with red paper documents from all the internal and external departments."

"Grand Secretary Yuan was wearing red paper documents from the prefectures and counties."

"Grand Secretary Tang was covered with red documents from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Justice."

"Grand Secretary Yu was wearing red paper documents from the Bureau of Civil Administration and the Censorate."

The year-end celebration is of extraordinary significance, as it concerns the official positions of many people.

To avoid any omissions, whether in local areas or in the capital, all departments adhered to the principle of "better to have more than less," resulting in extremely detailed documents, often starting as half a book.

The stack of documents, from top to bottom, was as tall as a person.

The documents were far too numerous and complex to be publicly approved one by one.

To ensure timeliness, the only option is to divide the work among different groups.

Of course, this method is a bit too much for my husband!
The document was passed down.

After about an incense stick's time, approved documents were occasionally sent back to Jiang Zhao.

Among the various government departments, the documents of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, the Bank, the Imperial Academy, and the Ordnance Bureau were given the most attention.

Locally, documents from the southwest and northwest regions are given more attention.

Among these improvements, the governance of officials has been significantly optimized.

In the second year of the Xifeng reign, there were approximately 50,000 officials in the circuits, prefectures, and counties of the empire, and approximately 450,000 minor officials.

However, by the fifth year of the Xifeng reign, after three consecutive years of cleansing the bureaucracy, the vast majority of those who did not perform their duties had been demoted or dismissed, leaving only about 41,000 officials and 375,000 minor officials.

"Data-driven governance" is certainly not feasible, but data also has its unique value for reference.

Given the current state of officialdom, if we continue this approach for another four or five years, the number of officials can be reduced to around 30,000 and the number of clerks to around 300,000, reaching a relatively healthy state. At that time, officialdom can be stabilized, with only a few hundred officials and a few thousand clerks being demoted each year. This is equivalent to having one official fall from grace and about ten clerks dismissed in a county every three years.

It has a certain deterrent effect, but it doesn't cause widespread panic.

The Ministry of Revenue also made considerable "progress," mainly in the area of ​​grain.

In the fifth year of the Xifeng reign, the Ministry of Revenue had four main expenditures:
One portion was for royal expenses, amounting to 39 million strings of cash.

This part mainly involves the money for repairing the palace and building new palaces.

The second expense was military expenditure, amounting to 12 million strings of cash.

This section mainly concerns the losses incurred during the southern expedition to Jiaozhi.

However, in reality, the expenditure was actually 2 million less than the previous year's 14 million guan military expenditure.

This is mainly due to the disarmament efforts.

In name, the Great Zhou Dynasty implemented a large-scale reduction of troops in the fourth year of the Xifeng reign and promoted the policy of allowing soldiers to retire and return to their fields. However, in reality, the reduction of troops lasted until almost the twelfth month of the fourth year of the Xifeng reign.

In other words, the real benefits of the troop reduction actually came into effect in the fifth year of the Xifeng reign.

According to Jiang Zhao's conservative estimate, if there had been no southern expedition to Jiaozhi, the annual military expenditure of the Great Zhou Dynasty would have been only around seven or eight million strings of cash, which is almost half of what it was before the troop reduction.

The third portion consisted of officials' salaries, totaling six million strings of cash.

Fourthly, the cost of daily governance and the expenses of various policies amounted to 30 million strings of cash.

This part of the expense is quite large.

The main problem is that semi-free education, road construction, steel smelting, and the Age of Exploration were all extremely expensive.

Even though these few decrees were only initially implemented and had not yet been fully rolled out, they had already cost a full ten million strings of cash.

In addition, there were funds for various internal and external affairs, local governance, and water conservancy projects, totaling 20 million strings of cash.

These four major expenditures totaled 87 million strings of cash!
Fiscal revenue mainly consists of three categories:
The first tax was levied on agriculture, amounting to 39 million strings of cash, a decrease of 4 million strings of cash compared to the previous year.

This is normal.

The main reason for this is the bumper harvest of rice in Champa!
To be honest, Champa rice has quite a few drawbacks.

It could even be said that, apart from the advantage of being able to feed the lower classes by relying on high production, everything else is a disadvantage.

As a result, Champa rice could not be sold at a good price. For the same weight, the price of Champa rice was only about one-third of that of regular rice.

Of course, in terms of yield, the yield of Champa rice is about one and a half times that of regular rice.

The combination of these two factors means that the price of a kilogram of Champa rice will be reduced by half, thus significantly reducing agricultural taxes.

However, this is good news.

With food, people are less likely to starve!

In fact, this news had already reached the central government around October.

At that time, it was the second harvest of Champa rice.

In the fourth year of the Xifeng reign, Jiang Zhao issued an edict deciding to separately classify grain production as a political achievement.

Both Champa rice and japonica rice were considered to be the more valuable japonica rice.

Its original intention was naturally to encourage the government to promote the cultivation of Champa rice.

As a result, there was a bumper harvest, which naturally pleased many high-ranking officials, who quickly reported the good news.

Therefore, in order to encourage the planting of Champa rice, Jiang Zhao ordered the Ministry of Revenue to requisition grain at 50% of the price of regular rice, which is one and a half times the price of Champa rice.

To date, a total of 90 million shi (a unit of dry measure) has been requisitioned, which has completely solved the problem of food shortage for the Northern Expedition.

Besides agricultural taxes, the other two major sources of fiscal revenue are industrial and commercial taxes and bank custody fees.

One is worth 51 million strings of cash, and the other is worth 4 million strings of cash.

It is not difficult to foresee that industry and commerce have been thoroughly revitalized, and for a considerable period of time to come, industry and commerce will be a "blue ocean".

These three major sources of income totaled 93 million strings of cash.

It did not exceed 100 million.

The main reason is that there was no confiscation of property, which meant less income from confiscation and the extermination of families.

The Ministry of Works received attention mainly because it was repairing the Imperial Palace.

This is a massive project costing 30 million strings of cash, and it's hard for it not to be taken seriously.

According to documents from the Ministry of Works, the project is expected to take three years to complete.

The Ministry of War mainly kept ledgers related to provisions and military equipment.

The main issue with banks is savings deposits.

Four hundred million guan in savings seems to be the limit for the Great Zhou Dynasty at present.

Compared to the previous year, bank savings deposits have increased slightly, but the increase is not significant.

The Imperial College (Guozijian) was mainly about the implementation of semi-free education.

This is a huge project, and it's unlikely to be fully implemented in less than two or three years.

The Ordnance Bureau mainly dealt with the mass production of artillery.

To date, more than 200 units have been mass-produced, with each unit costing approximately 200 to 300 strings of cash, making them quite expensive.

There was nothing that could be done about it; copper was the main material for casting cannons.

Copper coins, copper coins, copper is money!
……

As the sun set, the cabinet members dispersed.

Several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet offered their advice, but to no avail.

Unsurprisingly, news of the emperor's intention to launch a northern expedition quietly spread.

……

On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, at the Wende Hall.

Civil and military officials stood in orderly rows.

On the steps of the imperial palace, Zhao Ceying rested his hands on his knees, his eyes slightly closed, looking a little sleepy.

In about ten days, on the third day of the Lunar New Year, we will march north.

Therefore, Zhao Ceying unusually set aside state affairs for the time being, and instead indulged in pleasure with his concubines for two days.

I was having too much fun last night and I'm a little dazed.

"All officials, both inside and outside the court, may speak to me immediately." Zhao Ceying opened his eyes and took a long breath.

In just a moment, someone walked out from there.

Qi Heng, Imperial Censor in charge of miscellaneous affairs and acting Vice President of the Censorate!
"May I ask Your Majesty, are you planning to lead a northern expedition?" Qi Heng asked solemnly, holding his official tablet.

All the civil and military officials turned their attention to the past.

The question Qi Heng asked was also the question that all the officials wanted to ask.

On the steps of the imperial palace, Zhao Ceying raised an eyebrow, not surprised at all.

From the moment the notice was issued that "the annual budget will not be calculated in the fifth year of Xifeng", anyone with a brain would have sensed that something was amiss.

As a notoriously stubborn and simple-minded person, it would be strange if Qi Heng didn't question him.

"good."

Zhao Ceying waved his hand and admitted, "Yelü Hongji intends to march south, so naturally I must also march north. King against king, general against general!"

"The health of the emperor is a matter of great importance to the country and its people."

Qi Heng bowed decisively, his face solemn:

"This year, when His Majesty was on a southern expedition to Jiaozhi, he was accidentally shot by an arrow from a bandit."

"The country and its people were almost overthrown."

"Now that the Emperor's health has not yet recovered, how can he personally lead a second expedition?"

"Your Majesty, I beg you to remain in the palace for the sake of the nation and its people."

"I second the proposal."

One of them quickly stepped forward with his scepter, bowed deeply, and said, "In my humble opinion, perhaps we should let the Grand Chancellor lead the troops on a northern expedition; he will be victorious in every battle!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

As soon as Qi Heng started the attack, censors kept coming out.

On the steps of the imperial palace, Zhao Ceying raised an eyebrow slightly.

Judging from his expression, he clearly had a full range of countermeasures.

Even Jiang Zhao couldn't help but glance over, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Your Majesty, how should we respond?

You can't actually kill someone, can you?
Under the watchful eyes of all the officials, Zhao Ceying calmly rose, dusted off his sleeves, and slowly said:
"I have made up my mind!"

"Even the Grand Chancellor couldn't persuade me!"

"Ask yourselves honestly, who else can persuade me?"

With that final sound, everyone fell silent.
(End of this chapter)