Chapter 15 Increase revenue and reduce expenditure

However, this is ultimately a low-probability event, and compared with his own life, Cheng Jiming believes that reviving the Donglin Party's momentum is somewhat insignificant.

Cheng Jiming was sweating and said weakly, "Your Majesty, once the battle starts, we need food and silver. I beg Your Majesty to allocate one million taels of silver to help pay the troops!"

Cheng Jiming had unknowingly been inclined towards peace talks with Ligdan Khan, because judging from the current situation, it was impossible for the war in Xuanda to cost one million taels of silver. Even if so much military pay was needed, the court could not come up with so much silver with its current financial resources.

Cheng Jiming exaggerated somewhat, hoping to make Emperor Chongzhen give up.

However, before Chongzhen could say anything, the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan jumped out first.

"Your Majesty, the treasury has been empty for a long time and there is not so much silver!"

Bi Ziyan said this while glaring at Cheng Jiming fiercely.

Emperor Chongzhen might not have known how much salary the frontline soldiers would need when he first ascended the throne, but Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, knew it very well.

You were just speaking of righteousness, but now you are speaking alarmist words to avoid the war.

If the emperor really listened to you and asked me to pay one million taels of silver, wouldn't that be tantamount to asking for my life?

Strictly speaking, Bi Ziyan did not belong to the eunuch party.

He was even relatively close to the Donglin Party to a certain extent. The rise to power of Cheng Jiming, Qian Qianyi and others foreshadowed the revival of the Donglin Party, which made Bi Ziyan happy for a while.

However, this does not mean that he will not be angry if Cheng Jiming puts the blame on him.

Chongzhen looked at it with amusement. Although he was young and intelligent, he was not very familiar with state affairs. Although Lin Danhan was scary, at the moment, this was still a local battle on the border. There was no need to use one million taels of silver.

If this was the way the local tyrants fought, then Chongzhen wouldn't have to be the emperor. He could just open up the borders and let whoever wanted to be the emperor be the emperor.

However, Chongzhen did not directly refute Cheng Jiming, but instead pretended to be thinking seriously.

After a moment, he said seriously: "I know your difficulties, Mr. Bi. Not to mention the national treasury, even my own private treasury only has 150,000 taels of silver."

"But as the old saying goes, the emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. How can the soldiers fight bravely without food and money?"

Bi Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief. From the sound of it, the emperor would not force him to hand over one million taels.

Cheng Jiming was also overjoyed when he heard this, and thought to himself it was good to have no money!

Without money, the war cannot be fought. Even if the emperor insists on fighting, if he loses, he will have an excuse to shirk responsibility, saying that the soldiers were unwilling to risk their lives because they did not want to win.

Anyway, it's none of your business, so don't blame me.

Just when Cheng Jiming and Bi Ziyan thought that this would be a win-win situation, Chongzhen would not force the Ministry of Revenue to take the silver, and Cheng Jiming would have an excuse to save his life once he was defeated.

Chongzhen suddenly grinned, and the officials seemed to be somewhat teasing. He said, "In this case, we have no choice but to increase revenue and reduce expenditure."

When all the officials heard this, they all disagreed.

If the imperial court wants to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, there are only two ways.

It is nothing more than cutting down on various expenses to save money, and then imposing various heavy taxes on the people.

For example, after the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty, the additional Liao tribute that was levied during the Wanli period was one of them. When the officials thought of this possibility, they immediately became excited.

Imposing heavy taxes and levies on the people is no different from the common people distributing pork to the officials.

For example, if the imperial court wanted to increase the tax by 100 million taels, the people at the local level would often have to pay million taels or even more.

This extra one million taels would undoubtedly fall into the hands of local officials and clerks.

Among them, the clerks in the yamen who are responsible for collection can get a share of the profits, while the local officials will definitely take the lion's share.

Since local officials took the lion's share, they would definitely share it with the senior officials in the court.

For example, the censors of the Censorate, officials of the ministries and agencies, and the Ministry of Rites.

Otherwise, they would just write a memorial to the emperor, impeaching local officials for extortionate and extort money. No matter how much the local officials were greedy, they could only use the money to buy coffins.

Although the people suffered a little, it made the civil and military officials in the court rich, and by the way, it also solved the court's financial crisis and made the emperor happy.

Wouldn't this be a win-win situation for everyone? As for the common people, whether their families will be broken up, and they will be forced to sell their children or starve to death on the streets is not something that these court officials need to consider.

Bi Ziyan immediately jumped out to express his loyalty, "Your Majesty, there are still 300,000 taels of Liaodong military pay in the Taicang warehouse. If it can be replenished in time after the Liaodong military pay is levied, it can be embezzled to Datong first."

All the officials rolled their eyes when they heard this, and couldn't help but sigh that Guan Yinzi was really thick-skinned enough.

Even though Bi Ziyan has paid out 300,000 taels now, as long as Chongzhen orders an increase in Liao taxes, 300,000 taels of silver escorted from the local areas will have to be allocated to supplement the Ministry of Revenue.

It seems that Bi Ziyan did not get any benefit from it, but in fact it is not the case.

Because the tax silver escorted from the local areas needs to be inspected and collected by the Ministry of Revenue, it is not the case that the amount delivered is determined by the amount said by the local officials.

This can be used to make a big fuss and manipulate the situation.

For example, if the silver sent by the local government is 90% pure, the Ministry of Revenue can insist that it is only 80%.

With this one-tenth of the purity, the 300,000 taels that the local officials originally had to pay became 330,000 taels.

Bi Ziyan earned 30,000 taels for nothing, which was more than he could earn in several lifetimes.

However, Chong Zhen, who was sitting on the dragon throne, smiled slightly and said meaningfully: "The Ministry of Revenue still has silver. Didn't they come up with 300,000 taels?"

Bi Ziyan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise. These three hundred thousand taels are for the military pay in Liaodong. It's just that the war in Datong is urgent, so I thought of taking it out to solve the urgent problem first."

Chongzhen smiled and nodded, praising him: "My dear minister, you are loyal to the emperor and the country. I am very happy that you have such a thought."

"I will grant your request and escort the three hundred thousand taels of silver to Datong Prefecture to be used to pay the soldiers and to reward them after the war."

Bi Ziyan's face lit up, as if he had seen a lot of silver waving to him, and he said impatiently: "Your Majesty, how should the Liao tribute be raised? It would be better if a decision is made as soon as possible and arrangements are made immediately."

When all the officials heard this, their eyes lit up and they all looked at Chongzhen.

However, Chongzhen was surprised and asked in confusion: "When did I say that I would increase the Liao tribute?"

Bi Ziyan said "Huh?" He just took out 300,000 taels of silver, and the next moment you told me that you would not collect Liao tribute?
How can we fill this hole if we don’t collect Liao taxes?
(End of this chapter)