After stabilizing the situation in the three major camps in the capital, the entire capital returned to normal.

Chongzhen sat high in the Golden Palace, watching the government offices below perform their duties.

Among all the government offices, the Ministry of Revenue was the busiest.

They were required to prepare the food, clothes and salaries for the frontier troops, and also to handle disaster relief in northern Zhili, Henan and Shandong.

There are also reports on the increase and decrease of the national yellow book population, land inspections, and annual revenue and expenditure of the national treasury.

All these things kept the Minister of Revenue Fang Yuegong extremely busy.

He walked quickly into the Palace of Heavenly Purity, bowed, and reported to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the end of the year is approaching, and I have come to report on the state treasury situation."

"good."

"In mid-November, the Ministry of Revenue sold the confiscated land, houses, cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings from nobles and officials, and raised a total of 7,284,391 taels and 9 cents in cash, which has been deposited into the national treasury in accordance with your majesty's instructions."

"The national treasury currently has 8,773,321 taels of silver. It may seem like a lot of silver, but there are too many places to spend it, especially disaster relief, which is very expensive!"

"Based on current trends, the silver will be exhausted by next summer at the latest."

Chongzhen smiled and said, "Oh, so Minister Fang came to complain to me about his poverty!"

"I dare not!" Fang Yuegong lowered his head first, then raised his head and said, "In order to ensure that taxes are collected on time next year, the Ministry of Revenue has drawn up a collection quota for each province. Your Majesty, please review it."

After saying that, Fang Yuegong raised the booklet in his hand high above his head.

Chongzhen did not ask Wang Chengen to answer the call, but instead asked, "Compared with last year, has it increased or decreased?"

"It has been reduced! Your Majesty has issued an order to abolish the Three Taxes, so the tax collection standards proposed by the Ministry of Revenue have been restored to the level of the 45th year of the Wanli reign."

(In the 46th year of Wanli’s reign, Liao tribute was levied.)

Seeing that Chongzhen remained silent, Fang Yuegong continued, "Due to the current situation, Shaanxi and Shanxi were not included in the tax quota when it was drawn up."

“In addition, Henan suffered from severe drought and war, so no quota was allocated to it.”

"There is also no allocation for the Liaodong Regional Military Commission in Shandong."

(During the Ming Dynasty, the administrative and judicial powers of Liaodong were always under the jurisdiction of Shandong Province, but the military power was directly under the command of Beijing.)

"The Ministry of Revenue estimates that our country's tax revenue for the 18th year is 13 million taels, plus the deposits, a total of 21.7 million taels; the estimated expenditure is 25 million taels, and the silver shortage is as high as 3.3 million taels."

Chongzhen's eyebrows twitched: "Why is the estimated expenditure so high?"

Fang Yuegong was well prepared. He explained in an orderly manner: "The Jiannu entered the pass in late May, and Duoduo entered the pass again after the battle of Wenyu River, causing all the silver that should have been sent to various places to be piled up in the capital."

"After the Jiannu left the country in late October, the Ministry of Revenue began to transport the overdue silver to various parts of the country. The water in the canal was frozen due to the cold weather, so the silver could only be transported by land and sea. It is expected that all the silver will be transported by mid-March next year."

"So that's how it is..." Chongzhen nodded and stood up.

"Minister Fang."

"I am here."

"I will issue an order to all government offices and announce it to the whole nation. I have decided to exempt all citizens from taxes for the eighteenth year of Chongzhen."

"Ah?" Fang Yuegong was stunned where he stood.

The whole country had already been exempted from taxes for one year, and now it will be exempted for another year.

How much courage does this require?

Courage is secondary, the most important thing is to have money in your pocket.

"Your Majesty, the national treasury still has a deficit of more than three million taels to be settled next year. Isn't it a bit... ill-considered to announce that the country will be exempted from taxes for another year?" Fang Yuegong asked bravely.

No wonder he spoke harshly.

He was the Minister of Revenue and the steward of the Ming Dynasty.

Other government offices may neglect their duties, but he cannot.

The most that could result from the Ministry of Justice's dereliction of duty is false and wrongful convictions, which would affect no more than a few hundred people.

The consequence of the Ministry of Personnel's dereliction of duty is that officials will cause harm to the people, affecting tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.

The Ministry of Revenue's dereliction of duty would cause the imperial court and local government offices to come to a standstill, affecting the entire Ming Dynasty.

Facing Fang Yuegong's "questioning", Chongzhen smiled knowingly: "Minister Fang, who told you that I was not thoughtful enough?"

Fang Yuegong was so smart that he immediately guessed that there was enough money in the treasury.

As for how much money it was, he couldn't guess.

However, he still asked out of curiosity: "I know there is money in the treasury, but I don't know how much money..."

"Guess what!" Chongzhen felt childish again.

"Fifteen million taels?"

"Guess again!"

"Twenty million taels?"

"wrong."

Something is not right...Fang Yuegong began to sweat coldly on his forehead.

He knew there was money in the treasury, but he didn't expect it to be so rich.

If 20 million taels is not correct, then the treasury has at least 25 million taels of silver.

What is the concept?

Truly rich enough to rival a country!

"I really can't guess it, and please don't say any more, Your Majesty." It's not that Fang Yuegong couldn't guess it, but that he didn't dare to guess it.

The more you know, the more trouble you get into.

As the Minister of Revenue, he only needs to manage the Ming Dynasty and not interfere in the emperor's small family.

Chongzhen was amused by Fang Yuegong's caution.

He picked up the account book that Wang Chengen had just handed over and looked at the numbers on it again.

If Fang Yuegong saw this number, he would be scared to death.

Because this number is too scary!

0.4 small goals!!!

This does not include the land, houses and antiques that have not yet been sold.

If all those things were exchanged for silver, the treasury's silver reserves would reach half of the small target - 50 million taels!

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