"Master Sun, has the emperor ever passed away a person who gave less than 500,000 taels?"

Sun Jingyang understood what Li Xiuzhu meant, and couldn't help blushing as he spoke: "Except for the last emperor, there were only two or three emperors whose funeral expenses were less than 500,000."

The two of them looked at Song Lian again, and the meaning was very clear: if you can't pay 500,000, it will be your fault.

If this gets out, not only will you be criticized, but the prince will also hold a grudge against you.

Song Lian was shocked. He didn't expect the two to be so shameless, but he really couldn't avoid it.

"The Grand Canal needs to be built slowly. If the money is paid later, we can collect 500,000 taels."

"In addition, the construction of the mausoleum basically starts from the time of enthronement, so your Majesty's mausoleum only needs a cap, which should be 30,000 to 50,000 taels at most."

"In this case, although the specifications are smaller than those of the previous emperor, they are not much different."

Li Xiuzhu was startled when he heard this, and looked at Sun Jingyang and asked, "Has the construction of this imperial mausoleum been completed? The total cost is 250,000 taels? Isn't it capped?"

As soon as Sun Jingyang heard this, he knew that Li Xiuzhu had misunderstood, and he quickly said, "The total cost is 250,000 taels."

Li Xiuzhu heard this and said, "That's easy. The money for the Grand Canal cannot be delayed, otherwise millions of people will rebel and turn the world upside down."

"Your Majesty should have some money in his treasury. There should be some left after subsidizing the construction of the Grand Canal."

"Your Majesty's will says that there should be no waste, so we cannot spend more than the late emperor, so let's stick to the standard of 800,000 taels."

Eighty minus twenty for the construction of the imperial mausoleum (capped at fifty thousand), which is sixty. The Ministry of Revenue can only come up with thirty, and the least is thirty. He didn't believe that Li Kuo's private property did not even have thirty. He helped Li Kuo earn more than three million taels just by selling official positions.

At this moment, Song Lian asked in disbelief: "Why does Your Majesty have so much private money?"

"Lord Li knows the approximate number, so maybe he knows something else?"

Li Xiuzhu glanced at Song Lian and said calmly, "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. Why do I have to report to Mr. Song how His Majesty makes money?"

Song Lian paused, feeling dissatisfied, but he also knew that he had crossed the line.

"Yes, I have surpassed it."

Li Xiuzhu then nodded and said to Sun Jingyang, "I don't know much about funeral matters. If you need anything, just come to me."

After saying this, Li Xiuzhu turned around and called Wang Defa away.

"Eunuch Wang, come this way. We are going to hand over His Majesty's private treasury to the Crown Prince, and we are also going to use some of His Majesty's private property."

"promise!"

Li Xiuzhu didn't ask any questions while they were on the way. He didn't think about getting anything from this. The future all belonged to his son.

After meeting Li Chengze, Li Xiuzhu explained the whole story.

Li Chengze was also stunned after hearing this. He looked at Wang Defa in surprise and asked, "Eunuch Wang, where did father get so much private property?"

Wang Defa glanced at Li Xiuzhu after hearing this, and then said, "Your Majesty, he and his husband have privately sold official positions below the sixth rank, and the money he earned was 3.65 million taels."

"Of this, 500,000 taels were used for compensation for casualties and food during the attack on Silla, and 1,300,000 taels were used for the construction of the Grand Canal, leaving a surplus of 185 taels."

"However, according to Prime Minister Fu's estimate of the subsequent expenditures for the Grand Canal, the Grand Canal still needs 1.7 million taels. According to your majesty's needs, there is still a shortfall of 150,000 taels."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengze looked at Li Xiuzhu and asked, "How about Xiuzhu help big brother sell a few more positions?"

Li Xiuzhu's mouth twitched, and he shook his head and said, "I have sold all the officials in the big cities that I can sell. The rest can only be sold in small places, but if the officials sell too much, there will be problems."

"Most of those who can buy official positions have no real talent or knowledge. If there are too many of them, the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty will easily decay."

"Your Majesty and I had previously thought that we could pick up a few typical people and kill them to enrich the national treasury, and use the money to do something for the people."

"Build bridges, build roads, and build public schools."

"Public school?"

"Yes, the public school is a new idea I came up with after I returned. The aristocratic families control writing and knowledge. If we want to overthrow their rule in one fell swoop, it will be easy for everyone to attack us."

“So I came up with the idea of ​​public schools, which are different from the knowledge taught in private schools and mainly teach some practical life subjects.”

"For example, farming, animal husbandry, handicrafts, etc., 360 trades, except for Confucian subjects, we teach them all."

"In this way, the people can learn to read and write, and can also learn skills, and can quickly develop various commercial needs. For example, doctors, carpenters, hunters, winemakers, etc."

"This will speed up the development of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the circulation of currency."

"Within ten years, the development of the Great Zhou will be unmatched."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

"Of course, we also need to develop our military. Only with absolute military strength can we keep the gold in our hands. Otherwise, we will be like a child carrying gold into a busy city, attracting the covetousness of thieves."

Upon hearing this, the prince subconsciously asked, "But what if the generals have their own troops?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuzhu said, "We can adopt a general rotation system. Each general can only serve in one army for four years, and they will be rotated every four years."

"The soldiers in the army adopt an assessment system. Anyone who fails to meet the assessment standards will be released and return home after serving four years of military service and three years of labor."

"All the disabled people will be sent home as soldiers, and the local county government will be responsible for arranging jobs for them to survive. They can be teachers in the government, thugs to guard the house, bodyguards for caravans, etc."

"All those who meet the military service requirements within four years will be promoted two ranks if they remain in the military."

"Officers who have met the standards for three years will be promoted one level."

"Those who have met the requirements for two years will have their positions unchanged, but their salaries will be doubled."

“For those who have met the standard for one year, everything will remain the same.”

Li Xiuzhu's eloquent words made Li Chengze feel excited, but they had gone off topic.

Realizing this, when Li Chengze asked him when he started to change, Li Xiuzhu hurriedly said, "Brother, the most urgent matter is the funeral of His Majesty and your ascension to the throne, Crown Prince."

Li Chengze immediately understood what was going on and said, "I changed the subject."

"Well, I will pay for the 150,000 taels that are missing from Father's funeral."

He already had his own business, and with the business he got from Li Chengyu, he had at least 500,000 in liquid capital, let alone 150,000.

Li Xiuzhu was stunned. He didn't expect that Li Chengze would take the responsibility himself. He even said he would help think of a solution.

But think about it, it would be embarrassing if the combined assets of the two eldest princes could not come up with this little money.

Not to mention that the Third Prince's gambling house made a fortune every day, even the brothel in Hongxiuyuan had an annual income of no less than 200,000 taels.

"Okay, now that the money issue has been resolved, there won't be any problem."

At this moment, a palace maid walked to the door and shouted, "Your Highness, the officials have arrived."

(End of this chapter)