Zhao Huan took a deep breath; it felt as if a volcano was about to erupt within him.
He had long heard of the bloated bureaucracy and extravagant officialdom in the Song Dynasty, but he never imagined it was so serious. If this continued, let alone the Jin invaders, even without Wanyan Zongwang, that wild dog, the Song Dynasty would be squandered by these damned scholar-officials!
This Song Dynasty claims to have 600,000 Imperial Guards, but a report from the Privy Council yesterday revealed that they actually only have 130,000! Yet their military pay is being distributed based on 600,000. So where did the other 470,000 go?
According to the tax report submitted by Pai Shih-chung, a staggering 80% of the money was spent on military spending.
This is a huge hole that even if Zhao Huan dug three feet into the ground throughout the entire empire, he still couldn't fill. If this problem isn't solved, even if the Jin invaders are wiped out, the Song Dynasty will collapse economically within ten years.
It seems that sending Zhao Gou to Hangzhou to handle maritime transport ahead of time was the right thing to do; not a single day can be wasted.
And the military must be reformed!
With such a despicable approach, even an army of ten million would surely be defeated!
The ministers were very frustrated. On this New Year's Day, they were summoned to the morning court by the emperor. This new emperor was really making things difficult. It was better when his father was alive. He didn't care about anything and left everything to Cai Jing and others. The ministers could practically sit at home and enjoy themselves.
Zhao Huan felt annoyed. Looking at this group of well-dressed, sanctimonious ministers, he felt like he wanted to slash them with a knife.
Seemingly sensing the emperor's gloom, the ministers dared not utter a single word after performing their rites.
After a brief stalemate, Zhao Huan finally spoke: "Do any of you gentlemen have something to report?"
No one spoke up until the Imperial Censor He Ye spoke first: "Your Majesty, I have important matters to report!"
Upon seeing that it was this troublesome figure again, the ministers collectively and in their hearts gave He Ye's entire family a polite send-off.
"you say."
When Grand Chancellor Bai Shizhong saw that the bigwigs of the Censorate had spoken first, he had a bad feeling. He was afraid that He Ye was going to cause trouble again. But it was too late. He Ye said, "Your Majesty, I want to impeach Grand Chancellor Bai, Minister of Revenue Huang Shu'ao, and Privy Councilor Liu Changqing!"
Upon hearing this, all the ministers were startled, their minds filled with a thousand curses: Damn it! You damn fool, can't you just shut up during the New Year?!
This impeachment has implicated three important officials, all of whom are prime ministers of two different offices!
The ministers lamented that the current Censorate was as excited as if it had taken aphrodisiacs since the new emperor ascended the throne, while also cursing him for being shameless!
Bai Shizhong, Huang Shu'ao, and Liu Changqing stared at He Ye with eyes that seemed to spit fire, but He Ye appeared completely oblivious and continued to open his mouth, which could utterly obliterate the heavens and the earth, and said: "Your Majesty, our Great Song Dynasty claims to have 600,000 Imperial Guards! However, according to the latest report from Prime Minister Li, only 130,000 are actually on duty! And every year, 470,000 'ghost salaries' are taken away by others! Converted to specific amounts, that's as high as 21.38 million 'guan' per year!"
Upon hearing this, the assembled officials were immediately filled with trepidation.
Even though Zhao Huan already knew this number, he couldn't help but feel angry when He Ye mentioned it again. The Song Dynasty had been utterly disgraced by these spineless scoundrels!
More than 20 million strings of cash a year. According to ancient units of measurement, one string of cash is roughly equal to one tael of silver. In other words, more than 20 million taels of silver would disappear from the Song Dynasty every year for no reason!
Shameless! What could be more shameless than this!
Zhao Huan could no longer contain himself. He threw the report on the ground and said with a murderous look, "Damn it, I only discovered today that hundreds of thousands of people have been swindling me out of my money!"
Bai Shizhong, Huang Shu'ao, and Liu Changqing were all so frightened that they knelt on the ground.
Liu Changqing said, "Your Majesty, this matter was not said by Lord He."
Veins bulged on Zhao Huan's forehead, and he practically spat out a few words through clenched teeth: "Lord Liu, you have something to say!"
"Your Majesty, our dynasty wages war every year, and every year people die on the battlefield. We need to constantly replenish our ranks, and the turnover of soldiers is very fast. But that does not mean that these people do not exist. There are indeed 600,000 of them."
Bai Shizhong also said, "Your Majesty, what Lord Liu said is true. In recent years, there have been constant wars, and we need to constantly replenish our soldiers. Some soldiers have just enlisted and been counted, but they have already died in battle. I wonder where Minister Li's statistics came from, and how he made the statistics?"
Huang Shu'ao also challenged Li Gang: "Lord Li, why is your number 120,000, while mine, after deducting the number of those who died in battle in the past month, has 550,000?"
Li Gang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not speak falsely; this statistic is absolutely true!"
Bai Shizhong roared, "Prime Minister Li, as the Privy Councilor, you dare to slander ministers in the court without any evidence. At this time, the Jin invaders are marching south, and we should be united. Instead, you are framing your colleagues and taking the opportunity to cause chaos. Your intentions are despicable!"
Liu Changqing, the Privy Councilor, said, "Lord Li, I also have a set of statistics here. I wonder where yours came from?"
The implication of their words was that Li Gang deliberately fabricated facts and colluded with He Ye to falsely accuse them.
Seeing that these three were still trying to argue and sophistry, Zhao Huan asked, "Minister Liu, are you saying that Li Gang deliberately framed you?"
"Your Majesty is wise. Now that the Jurchen invaders are advancing south, our Great Song should be united. However, Minister Li has chosen this time to incite internal strife, causing unrest among the people. I suspect that Minister Li might be a spy for the Jurchen invaders!"
When his subordinate confronted him on the spot, Li Gang flew into a rage: "Liu Changqing, don't talk nonsense!"
"Lord Li, only Heaven knows whether I'm lying or not. His Majesty is a wise and enlightened emperor, and he will not tolerate such a petty person as you causing trouble!"
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