bookrebus Chapter 487 What is built is not built
Chapter 487 What is built is not built
Zhou Chang had no impression of the new Minister of Revenue, Song Ming, but he was accustomed to the Ministry of Revenue's "crying poor".
Emperor Lin was originally in high spirits, but when he heard this, his face fell.
King Xian shook his pumpkin head and said, "The treasury has been empty for more than a year or two. It is so important to build a longevity platform for my father's 70th birthday. How can there be no money?"
Shangshu Ling Ding Maobi followed suit: "We can find other ways to deal with the empty treasury, and we can move the money first. Wanshoutai must be completed within a year, and time waits for no one. Next year, we must hold a grand ceremony for Your Majesty, and we must invite foreign envoys. This will show the demeanor of our neighboring country. There is no time to waste."
Song Ming snorted coldly: "Humph, Lord Ding makes it sound easy, but where can I go?"
He Tao, the Imperial Censor, said: "The national treasury is always insufficient because of the frequent floods in the south. Therefore, it is always insufficient and the situation next year is not optimistic. We should start with taxes. The differences between the north and the south are huge, so taxes should be tailored to local conditions."
When Emperor Lin heard this, he seemed to have received inspiration and immediately agreed: "What the He family said makes sense. What does Song Qing think?"
Zhou Chang had no idea about the background of the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Song Ming, nor which side he was on.
However, he had a round face, was fatter than before, had bright eyes, and looked like a smiling Buddha, but he gave people the feeling that he was not easy to mess with. At this moment, he replied: "Your Majesty, although taxes are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, the names of taxes are probably determined by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Revenue is only responsible for counting the numbers, and I cannot easily interfere."
The Smiling Buddha is actually quite good at Tai Chi.
Prince Xian raised his broad eyebrows on his pumpkin head. In the absence of Prince Duan, he took over and pointed at Zhou Chang: "Jin Cao Si? Isn't Jin Cao Si under the jurisdiction of Ninth Brother's 'Taizai Mushou'?"
"..." Zhou Chang was just a spectator, but he didn't expect that after a circle of people pointed at Prince Yi. He just wanted to play dead and didn't want to participate.
Shangshu Ling Ding Maoze quickly cooperated with his nephew: "Yes, the 'Taizai Mushou' is a special position created by His Majesty. It seems that this matter will fall on His Royal Highness Prince Yi."
The "yi yi ya ya" singing on the stage outside was still going on, but no one in the Yongqing Hall could hear it. All their eyes were focused on Zhou Chang.
These people are so shameless.
Taxes were imposed in various names, and when they ran out of money, they still thought of plundering the people.
Now I can’t even think of a name, and I even thought of Prince Yi.
Pooh……
However, when the construction of Wanshoutai was mentioned just now, an idea popped up in Prince Yi's heart.
Zhou Chang was reluctant to participate, but now he had to stand up and speak: "Money is never enough. Father's 70th birthday needs to be grand and spectacular, and money needs to be spent on the Longevity Terrace, which is all reasonable. However, there is another place that also needs money, which is also reasonable. Now that we have come to this point, why not discuss it together."
Emperor Lin also became interested: "What is that?"
The reason why I agreed to give him the position of "Taizai Mushou" was because I believed what Prince Duan and Duke Xu said. Prince Yi had no other abilities, but he could still make money by thinking of some names. Let him just have a title and he didn't have to do anything, but as long as he was willing to come up with some good ideas, that would be enough.
Zhou Chang was about to make a move: "Father, the south is flooded every year. There are floods and hidden dangers every year. It has even become a disaster. We really should build dams early to prevent future troubles."
It doesn't matter what you build. Since the emperor can use money to build the Wanshou Terrace, he can also use money to build a dam.
"This..." Emperor Lin was stunned.
What does this mean?
Why bring up this matter at the birthday party for no reason?
Are you deliberately looking for trouble?
Prince Rong looked at the Emperor Lin's face and spoke first: "Although my ninth brother's idea is good, the ministers in the court also have ideas. But it is because the treasury is empty that it has not been implemented for many years. Today is the emperor's birthday, so don't make such a request that will embarrass the emperor."
Jia Rui, the Minister of Works, who was always taciturn, also echoed: "Yes, if there was money, it would have been built a few years ago. Why wait until now?"
"Although money is a problem, His Royal Highness Prince Yi's idea is good." Gu Yan, Duke of Xu, suddenly interrupted and for the first time spoke in favor of Zhou Chang in public.
Zhou Chang said this just to shut everyone up. It was already known that the court had no money and she didn't have the ability, so there was no need for her to get involved.
But when she backed off, Prince Yi's consciousness emerged: "Father's 70th birthday needs to be celebrated, and the southern dam also needs to be built. The two things are not in conflict. If the treasury is empty, where will the money come from to build the longevity platform? If there is money to build the longevity platform, why is there no money to build the dam?"
This is an obvious thing, but people have to make it clear in public.
Emperor Lin looked unhappy.
"Ninth brother, you don't know that the money spent on building Wanshoutai is not comparable to that spent on building a dam." Prince Rong tried to persuade him again.
Zhou Chang wanted to stop Prince Yi from getting into trouble, but Prince Yi was of the mind that if he did, he would either not act at all or act in a strong way.
"If Your Majesty agrees to build the dam, then I will allocate the same amount of silver as Your Majesty spent on your 700,000 birthday to the dam. If the silver is not enough for the dam in the end, then I am willing to find a way to make up for it." Feng Ming made the promise without even asking how much silver was needed.
Zhou Chang was forced to become a bystander, but he also knew that what Prince Yi said was "blocking both ends."
On the one hand, if Emperor Lin agreed, then it would be considered as forcing Emperor Lin to pay the money.
Even if the Emperor Lin is unwilling, as long as this suggestion is considered, there will be no need to spend a lot of money on the Wanshou Terrace, and it can be considered a good thing.
On the other hand, based on common sense from his previous life, Zhou Chang knew that in the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi spent 10 million taels of silver to build the Summer Palace for her 60th birthday, and even embezzled military funds from the Beiyang Navy, which led to a disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.
Emperor Lin’s seventieth birthday celebration would not cost him more than the old woman did. Even if he used half of it to build a dam, it should be enough.
As for the shortfall to be made up by Prince Yi, that was just a bait and we could discuss it later.
As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar.
If you don't take advantage of an opportunity, you're a bastard. Emperor Lin began to consider it seriously.
However, he had no idea how much money a birthday banquet would cost: "Mr. Song, how much did my birthday banquet cost this time?"
Song Ming had only been in office for a year, and he pushed the issue without any pressure: "Your Majesty's birthday festival has always been organized by the Imperial Household, mainly with the Imperial Household's internal treasury. I only know that for today's activities outside the South City Gate, such as the tower-building and opera performances, the lantern and lion dance, and the military martial arts celebrations, which are considered external affairs, the expenditure is about 300,000 silver taels."
Just those things cost three hundred thousand taels of silver?
Feng Ming didn't believe it in his heart, but at this time, the higher Song Ming's "offer" was, the more beneficial it would be to him.