Chapter 296: King Ren

The atmosphere in the huge central army hall was subtle and tense. Due to the large number of people and the many braziers, many people's foreheads were already covered with sweat. People like Master Fahe, who seemed to be a little bit wealthy, had sweat all over their faces.

At this moment, Emperor Zhao just kept looking down at his notes, which made the atmosphere even more tense.

"As a military officer, I shouldn't interfere in state affairs, but since the emperor has said that anyone can speak out on politics today, I'll take the liberty of speaking about finances from a military perspective."

After arguing for a while, even Li Qiong, the Right Deputy Commander of the Imperial Army, could not help but interrupt. "Since we need to spend money, it is not advisable to pretend that the common people can be bullied, because since ancient times, those who have the ability to rebel are precisely the common people who can be bullied! There have been two major turmoil caused by taxation in this dynasty. One was caused by Fang La, who relied on the poor people in the southeast market; the other was caused by Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao, whose roots were the fishermen and farmers in Jingxiang. This is a lesson from the past! On the contrary, it was the temples and merchants... To put it bluntly, have there ever been monks and merchants who rebelled since ancient times? When the country is in danger, they should be killed to enrich themselves! Even the powerful landlords are really blind. This time, Yue Jiedu will not be needed to suppress them. I will suppress them on my own behalf! Let's see who has the sharpest knife?"

Li Qiong was born in a state school, and he was a man of brains and vision. However, no matter what, he was now just a leader of the exiled northerners. He was most concerned about the Northern Expedition, but he did not have the overall view and compassion of Yue Fei. Being young and energetic, he was inevitably extreme in related matters. When the court negotiated peace that day, everyone was worried that he would cause trouble, and there was a reason for that.

However, when such fierce words were spoken at this time, no one rebuked or refuted them, and it even caused a momentary silence on the scene, which increased the solemnity of the atmosphere... After all, everyone knew that although the official seemed so calm at the moment, with his temper, he might explode at any time and it would really come to the issue of the knife.

Even Li Qiong only played the unscrupulous character of an exiled military leader from Hebei after trying to figure out the emperor's intentions... In any case, the Eight Character Army and the Imperial Camp Front Army were both trump cards in Emperor Zhao's hand.

However, at this moment, after looking down at his notes for a long time and thinking for a long time, Emperor Zhao finally raised his head and said, "I want to express my opinion first... We can discuss things, but don't always shout for war and killing. When Wanqi Jinglüe was the censor, he advised me that the situation before and after Yaoshan was completely different. Before, the country was in danger and no matter what extraordinary measures were taken, it was helpless. But the extraordinary measures were taken at that time so that we would not take extraordinary measures today."

Li Qiong quickly took the opportunity to apologize and then returned to the sequence.

Zhao Jiu paused for a moment, and then continued, "Just now, from the prime ministers to the ministers, and Chen Jijiu, they all said very well. Even Deputy Governor Li's words were a bit absurd, but his logic was still somewhat realistic... The country is short of money, but it must not exploit the people anymore. It can only take from the wealthy people above the people. And these wealthy people, whether monks, merchants, landlords, or even nobles, are definitely rich, and can even be said to be the richest at the moment. They sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor in peacetime, and when the country is in trouble, they will be rich. It is difficult, of course we can only ask them to help. However, how should we help? We can't just rob them, right? Even if we can do that, it won't be enough to convince people. Moreover, once we rob them, we can stop at the top, but how do we divide the boundaries below? Landlords and wealthy merchants easily seize their property, so do the rich families have to hand it over? After the rich families, do the middle-class families have to be robbed as well? There will be no boundaries, and there will be a big mess. Therefore, we have to think of a way to take the money from these wealthy families in an orderly, legal, and limited way."

To be honest, the monks, Taoists and those tycoons who came to the scene today were in a state of ups and downs, but it was a place like this where they had no right to speak and could only stand there in agony... Just as the government spoke, they sank to the bottom of the mud pit and then floated to the surface again.

"Your Majesty." Upon hearing Zhao Jiu's words, the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi could not wait to speak. "What I just said about Jiaozi and national debt is exactly what I meant... Now that the country is stable, why not follow the example of Sichuan Jiaozi and re-establish or newly establish Jiaozi offices in Tokyo, Chang'an, Nanyang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou? Issue them properly to ensure the reliable circulation of Jiaozi. As for national debt, I think national debt should also change with the times. Given the popularity of national debt, it should not be repurchased at a higher interest rate, but should be sold at a higher interest rate. There is no need to set a six-month or one-year term, but to change it to a long-term holding. The gold, silver, and copper coins obtained from the sale of national debt can be used as a reserve for Jiaozi. I boldly calculated that if it can be done, there will always be an income of tens of millions of strings, and there will be a small income of millions of strings every year in the future."

After Lin Qi finished speaking, the monks, Taoist priests, nobles and wealthy merchants in the distance were all moved. If they only bought government bonds and the amount was not too extreme, why not? However, according to the words of the Minister of Revenue, they might have to match some Jiaozi, which was a bit painful.

Unexpectedly, after Lin Qi said such appropriate words, Emperor Zhao did not even say a word of praise. Not only that, several ministers also looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a long pause, the person who spoke back to Lin Qi was actually his political ally, the Imperial Censor Li Guang: "Minister Lin... what you said makes a lot of sense. Jiaozi bonds are a very good thing, and the court will definitely do it. But I want to ask you, if the bonds are no longer negative interest, but issued at positive interest, how many can be sold? If we only focus on earning this little interest, does it conflict with the fundamental purpose of the bonds to help with emergencies?"

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