On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 498 Good intentions lead to wrong deeds

Zhao Yuanshu, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, responded to Cui Che's summons and hurried to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report to him.

Zhao Yuanshu, who is over forty years old, has a slight frost on her temples, but Cui Che, who is only three years younger than him, still has a full head of black hair.

Cui Che clearly remembered that at the beginning of the army, Zhao Yuanshu's hair was still black.

After listening to his report on the arrangements for spring plowing, Cui Che said with emotion:

"In the past few years, I have worked hard to sort out my finances."

Zhao Yuanshu smiled bitterly when he heard this. Every gray hair on his head was worried about the tight national treasury.

Even if Cui Che suppresses Buddhism and collects business tax, the sum of residence tax and overtax is only 5%, and repeated tax collection is not allowed. Although it is long-term income, in the short term, it is also

Very little.

As for plundering Buddhism and Taoism, it is a one-shot deal. This kind of windfall does not happen every year.

In the past, the two most important treasury revenues were salt profits. However, because Yang Guang was drying salt in the south of the Yangtze River, the price of salt continued to fall and the income dropped sharply.

The other is a rental adjustment for private households.

However, after Cui Che reformed the rent transfer system, the rent transfer fee in the past was unified based on the standard of 140 acres of land grant, and the rent transfer fee was changed according to the amount of land grant, different grades, and floating rent payment.

Doing so will certainly benefit the poor people, as they will not have to use 20 acres of public land to pay for 140 acres of rent.

But for Zhao Yuanshu, Minister of Civil Affairs, this is undoubtedly bad news.

In particular, Cui Che supported 200,000 soldiers, including a large number of cavalry and horses. He had to rely on the treasury to support his troops. It was really difficult for him to be the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the Eastern Sui Dynasty.

Zhao Yuanshu said seriously:

"Eating the emperor's salary, being loyal to the emperor, and serving the king, Yuan Shu dare not take credit for her service.

"However, Prince Boling (Cui Yanqing) traded troops and horses with Khitan without permission without the king's order. This move should not be tolerated lightly.

"Otherwise, if the top is followed and the bottom is ineffective, it will become a common practice and there will be no integrity at all."

Cui Che was speechless. He could intuitively feel Zhao Yuanshu's resentment towards Cui Yanqing for secretly trading military horses.

The news came back a few days ago. Cui Yanqing thought that he had made a great achievement by purchasing 30,000 military horses from the Khitans for Cui Che at a premium on salt, so he naturally sent someone on the road in advance to report the good news to Cui Che.

However, he didn't know that Cui Che didn't know that the Khitan troops and horses were available.

The reason why we purchased horses from Kumoxi instead of the Khitan was to weaken Kumoxi without overly weakening the Khitan.

After all, the Khitan people have been severely drained by him over the years.

From Zhao Yuanshu's point of view, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Even if the price of salt drops sharply, selling salt in the Eight Tribes of Khitan is still a source of income.

Nowadays, military horses are purchased at a premium from sea salt, which reduces the income from the sea salt trade in Khitan. At the same time, the 30,000 military horses obtained are an additional expense for daily consumption.

After all, Cui Che's re-planning of the cavalry only retains the ability of 30,000 cavalry to carry out long-distance raids, and the domestic military horses are sufficient.

The 50,000 military horses purchased from Kumoxi were only used as strategic reserves.

Once Guanlong is conquered and the army and horses are lost, they can be replenished immediately.

Unexpectedly, Cui Yanqing actually took matters into his own hands, overfulfilled the task and brought back 80,000 troops.

Now it's better. The Khitan has obtained enough sea salt through the military horse trade. The country's foreign trade income has decreased, and there are 30,000 more military horses to raise. Zhao Yuanshu, as the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, deeply hates Cui Yanqing's actions.

Therefore, even though Cui Yanqing is Cui Che's legitimate son, Zhao Yuanshu still clearly requested Cui Che to severely punish this matter.

He was Cui Che's old brother when he was the general manager of Qingzhou, and he dared to stand firm.

After all, the opponent is Cui Yanqing, not Cui Qiji.

If it were Cui Qiji, Zhao Yuanshu could only swallow her anger for the sake of her descendants.

Cui Che also has a decisive temper, but this matter is really difficult for him to handle.

Although Cui Yanqing made a mistake, Cui Che also knew that Cui Yanqing did this just to share his worries.

Moreover, Cui Che's informants in the mission also sent all Cui Yanqing's words and deeds during the journey to Jinyang.

Cui Yanqing's private life was a bit licentious, but he did not take the opportunity to win over Dahe Jinzhong, and he did not have private contacts with dignitaries of the Xi clan and Khitan.

Cui Che was generally satisfied with his second son's mission.

Cui Yanqing is only eighteen years old after all, and it is when he needs encouragement and recognition the most.

If he was punished for this matter, Cui Che would be worried that it would dampen his enthusiasm, and he would have a negative attitude and give up on himself.

He made it clear to Zhao Yuanshu about his difficulties. After so many years of friendship between us, there was nothing to avoid.

After saying that, Cui Che comforted him and said:

"Although I don't want to punish Yan Qing, I will never ask for credit for his purchase of 30,000 military horses. Naturally, no one will follow suit. I hope Yuan Shu can understand Cui's difficulties."

After hearing this, Zhao Yuanshu could only reluctantly nod in agreement.

After all, in the final analysis, he is just a housekeeper, and this family fortune still belongs to Cui Che.

He couldn't insist on beating and killing Cui Yanqing when Cui Che was unwilling to deal with it.

After sending Zhao Yuanshu away, Cui Che shook his head helplessly.

Nothing is perfect in this world. Just like his reduction of people's burdens, although it won people's hearts, it also increased the pressure on the national treasury.

Cui Yanqing was able to find his way back and give up the fight with his brother for the throne. Cui Che was satisfied. As long as his principles were not violated, there was no need to be too harsh on him.

What's more, this time, Cui Yanqing also did bad things with good intentions. When he comes back, he will explain the truth clearly to Cui Yanqing and let him take a warning.

On the seventh day of February in the third year of Zhenyuan (AD 608), when spring plowing was in full swing everywhere, Cui Yanqing finally returned to Jinyang.

The two thousand soldiers who escorted him on his mission were very successful, bringing with them a large amount of furs, ginseng and other grassland specialties.

The profits that come and go make them make a lot of money.

No wonder that since ancient times, even if the grassland is extremely dangerous, it cannot stop the enthusiasm of caravans from going out.

This also inspired Cui Che, who decided to establish a national business company after unifying the north to specialize in foreign trade, and all the profits would be collected into the national treasury.

The Khitans with two thousand silver saddles have been disbanded on the spot.

After being away for only half a year, they missed their wives and children at home.

Cui Che will definitely recruit them for the Western Expedition in the near future, so he will naturally give them a holiday so that they can deal with the goods they brought back and spend time with their families.

However, the most urgent matter at the moment is Cui Yanqing's decision to trade with the Khitan.

Facing the enthusiastic Cui Yanqing, Cui Che did not open his mouth to scold him, but praised:

"You can take the initiative to share my worries, which makes my father feel very happy."

Cui Yanqing's face was full of joy and he smiled and said:

"It's just a small thing. This is what a son should do. Besides, the son also relies on his father's prestige."

There are still two chapters left. The next chapter will be around twelve o'clock, and the fourth chapter will be before three o'clock.

(End of chapter)