Seeing that the emperor couldn't help but speak, the ministers pretended to listen attentively.

"First, although we defeated the Jin invaders and recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, as many as 300,000 of our Song soldiers died for their country! Therefore, I propose a strategy of enriching the country and strengthening the military. This is an urgent matter. As for how to do it, each of you will be responsible for your own duties."

"Second, increase the population and strictly prohibit the drowning of infants by the common people. Those who disobey the order shall be beheaded. Orphanages shall be established in all prefectures and counties, and the imperial court shall fund the care of abandoned infants."

"Third, the tax rate will be readjusted according to the size of the business, with a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 10%; the agricultural tax will be reduced to 1%!"

Ignoring the changing expressions of his ministers, Zhao Huan continued his willful pronouncements: "Fourth, establish the Great Song Royal Merchant Guild, with officials appointed as guild presidents. Subordinate guilds will include salt merchants, iron merchants, railway merchants, banks, and other branches. These branches will only be responsible for planning; the actual execution will involve recruiting merchants from the populace through a competitive process. The guilds will distribute salaries according to established standards. These merchants will not be included in the official ranks. Except for officials within the merchant guilds who may engage in business according to the court's strategic plans, all government personnel will be strictly prohibited from engaging in business and competing with the people for profits!"

"Fifth, open up the seas, separate the Maritime Trade Office from the Navy Office, and establish a separate Navy Office, with two commissioners as the Minister of the Navy, responsible for maritime trade and overseas expansion!"

"Sixth, establish the Royal Academy of Sciences and recruit engineering talents widely."

"Seventh, establish the Hall of Heroes and Spirits, so that civil officials can enjoy incense offerings and be remembered for future generations. All those who enter the Hall of Heroes and Spirits are pillars of our Great Song Dynasty."

Upon hearing these seven points, the gentlemen fell into a deathly silence. Apart from the first and seventh points, which they understood and immediately accepted, the other five points were highly controversial.

Zhao Huan naturally understood their doubts about why they wanted to do this. He then explained the matter of raising commercial taxes. He pointed out that the commercial taxes in the Song Dynasty were not high, and there were many policies to encourage commerce, which led to its prosperity. Six or seven out of ten of the court's tax revenue came from commerce.

Now that the emperor wants to raise commercial taxes, it will inevitably reduce the income of merchants. Merchants will then have to raise prices on their goods, causing prices to skyrocket. This is a matter of people's livelihood, and we can't just do things arbitrarily like this!

Zhou Chao quickly voiced his concerns, stating that this policy would inevitably lead to price increases.

Zhao Huan had of course thought of this problem as well, which was why he planned to abolish corvée labor by force. After the abolition of corvée labor, the people would have more time to create value for themselves and make money for themselves. Once they made money for themselves, they would have to pay taxes, and once they paid taxes, the country would have revenue.

Furthermore, when people have money in their own hands, they will spend it, which further promotes the development of commerce. Merchants who make money have to pay taxes to the state. The more they earn, the higher the percentage of tax revenue they receive. The tax revenue for small business owners remains unchanged from before.

When setting prices, merchants naturally need to consider all aspects. Increased taxes are one of them, as is an increase in the number of consumers. Furthermore, the diversification of business structures is also a very important factor.

For example, a merchant who could only open a restaurant in Tokyo in the past, but now the imperial court plans to mine in Hebei, which requires a large labor force. The court will pay the wages, and corvée labor has been abolished. Government officials are not allowed to organize people to take on this task privately. At this time, people with a bit of business sense will organize people to do this. The court's money will flow from the top to the hands of merchants and mining laborers. At this time, the merchant is unwilling to raise the prices of his restaurant in the capital. Once the prices are raised, sales will be affected.

At this point, Zhao Huan recalled Wang Anshi's reforms.

Wang Anshi's reforms were essentially economic reforms of the Song Dynasty. His strategy was to enrich the country and strengthen the military, but the socio-economic structure did not expand. The total amount of money remained the same, either in the hands of the people or in the pockets of the imperial court. Wang Anshi's various policies transferred the money from the people's hands to the imperial court's pockets, which was like drinking poison to quench thirst, and that's why he was opposed by the whole country.

However, Zhao Huan wanted to develop a diversified economic structure in the Song Dynasty both horizontally and vertically, rather than playing the existing market. Moreover, this time he had an advantage over Wang Anshi in that the emperor himself was in charge.

When Wang Anshi was presiding over the reforms, he was often criticized by censors and officials. But that was secondary. In order to carry out the reforms, Wang Anshi created his own core team outside the existing court official structure, which led to a redundancy of officials and actually reduced administrative efficiency. Some of the bad aspects of the new laws were not good when they were implemented, and some of the good aspects of the new laws were also not good when they were implemented.

After the emperor's explanation, the ministers seemed to understand but not quite, and all frowned slightly in thought.

These people are among the smartest people in this era and on this planet. Naturally, they can digest what Zhao Huan said, but it will take time. In their minds, it's similar to Sima Guang's theory: the total amount of everything in the world is constant. Either the people are rich and the national treasury is relatively full, or the people are poor and the national treasury is full.

In Zhao Huan's view, the Song Dynasty was now impoverished, both in terms of the common people and the national treasury.

He confiscated the property of some ministers and even executed their entire families, but what is that little bit of money to a country?

Where did all the money go? Of course, it all went to the scholar-officials and the nobles who were treated like pigs.

The salaries of Song Dynasty officials were the highest in history, with about 70-80% going to wages. Whether civil or military officials, the money ultimately used for national development was either embezzled during disaster relief or during construction projects.

When Zhao Huan transmigrated, he was in the worst possible situation. He had finally managed to go north and fight the Jin Dynasty to the death, thus resolving the border problem, but there were still a lot of internal problems. If he didn't take action soon, the prosperous world would really explode.

Zhou Chao, who was in charge of the three departments and the head of the Ministry of Revenue, spoke up again. He was in charge of the money, and the money was under his control, so he naturally had a clear understanding of the situation.

He said directly, "Your Majesty, we are running out of money. It seems that opening up the seas, building ships, and constructing a navy will have to be postponed."

"No delay is allowed. I must summon Prince Kang back and discuss this matter with him properly."

Zhou Chao was on the verge of collapse. Everyone in the court was asking him for money, and the silver was running out. This emperor still wanted to launch a naval expedition, provide relief for abandoned children, and start mining. Every single one of these things cost money!

Looking at Zhou Chao, the Minister of Revenue and concurrently the Commissioner of the Three Departments, whose old face looked as if he had just been soaking in bitter water for three days and three nights, the other ministers could only join in opposing the emperor's proposal.

"Didn't I mention banks in the Song Dynasty's Royal Merchant Guild? The Song Dynasty's Royal Bank plays a crucial role in financing the national treasury!"

What is this? Financing? What does that mean? It sounds like money is melting away like ice and snow?

"If the people deposit all their money in the Song Dynasty's royal trading companies, wouldn't the national treasury be full?"

Upon hearing the emperor's words, the ministers looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Has the emperor lost his mind again? Do you think the people will willingly put their money in? Aren't you just another Wang Anshi? You're competing with the people for profit, are you trying to incur the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people? When the people suffer, it won't be solved by killing a few corrupt officials; it will require breaking the shackles on their hearts!