The businessman started making trouble again?
Zhao Zhen couldn't help but recall the first year of Tiansheng when Li Zi first proposed the cash payment system and the huge wave of opposition from both the government and the public.
In addition to many court officials submitting petitions, tea merchants went on strike, border officials were in an uproar, and public resentment arose. Even Liu E, who was in power at the time, had to remove Li Zi to calm the anger of the court and the public.
That was twelve years ago. Zhao Zhen was only fifteen years old at that time. Although he didn't know the specific situation, he had already known the root cause after ruling the country for several years.
The claims that the cash-on-demand law caused the treasury to be empty and merchants to be inconvenienced are all false. It is nothing more than interests at work, and their interests are not being satisfied.
Now they start doing this again.
Zhao Zhen's face was as dark as water. He was about to summon Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng and others to discuss the matter, but he hesitated for a moment, remembering what Fan Zhongyan had said to him, and said to Cao Xiu, "I understand. You go and find out more details first."
"yes."
Cao Xiu bowed and retreated.
Then Zhao Zhen summoned Wang Shouzhong, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and said to him, "Call Yan Shu over."
"yes."
Wang Shouzhong went to do it immediately.
At this time, Yan Shu was talking to Zhao Jun in the backyard.
After he returned, he made a brief trip to the Ministry of Revenue, explained some things, and then took over the shift with Fan Zhongyan.
The main reason is that Zhao Jun's eyesight is getting better day by day and is about to recover. He must stay by Zhao Jun's side and keep an eye on him for a long time to prevent any accidents from happening.
At present, Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian and others have gradually shifted their focus to government affairs.
They had learned everything they needed to from Zhao Jun, and they basically knew the future history, so they no longer needed to listen to Zhao Jun's lectures and should return to the court to handle state affairs.
About two quarters of an hour later, Yan Shu entered the Chongde Hall, bowed to Zhao Zhen, and said, "Your Majesty, what is the matter that you summoned me?"
Zhao Zhen stared at him for a while, feeling a little uneasy. He asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, is there something on my face?"
"No."
Zhao Zhen shook his head and said softly, "There's news from the city that merchants are planning to run a group to withdraw Jiaozi. But right now, the Jiaozi shops have over 500,000 strings of cash, most of which have been used to purchase food and fodder, leaving 80,000 strings of cash as principal. You're the Minister of Revenue, how much is left in the treasury?"
Yan Shu smiled bitterly and said, "There are still more than 30,000 strings of cash."
"Forehead."
Zhao Zhen felt a headache.
The Song Dynasty had a perennial fiscal deficit, with its revenue exceeding its expenditure. The early summer or the beginning of winter was the time when the treasury was at its poorest.
Because the Song Dynasty continued the two-tax system of the Tang Dynasty, land tax was collected on the first day of May in summer and the first day of September in autumn. The payment time was two and a half months and three and a half months respectively, and it took a long time to send it to Bianliang.
Therefore, during the period when the land tax was sent to Bianliang, the national treasury often ran away with money. Even the tax revenue was often spent as soon as it arrived in Bianliang, and not much was saved.
According to the "Food and Money Records" in the History of the Song Dynasty, the income reached 126 million strings of cash in 1049 AD, but not a penny was left after expenditure.
Although commercial taxes are paid all year round, most of them are actually withheld and used locally. For example, the History of the Song Dynasty says: "The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for managing the finances of the world. Now, tributes from all over the country have not been paid to the royal palace for a long time, and are often withheld by prefectures and counties for military purposes."
Basically, not only commercial taxes were used for military expenditures, but most of the summer and autumn taxes collected in the national treasury were also sent to the northwestern Hebei border and the military camps of the garrison troops across the country. The remaining money would be used to pay the salaries of officials throughout the country.
Once the two money-eating beasts, redundant soldiers and officials, were filled up, the imperial court would basically be out of money.
The merchants obviously found the right opportunity, knowing that the national treasury was empty at that time, and took the opportunity to launch an attack.
Seeing Zhao Zhen's unhappy expression, Yan Shu said, "Your Majesty, there's no need to worry too much. The amount of money deposited in the Jiaozi Office in Bianliang is only over 500,000, most of which are not from tea merchants. The national treasury has over 30,000 strings of cash plus the 80,000 strings of cash in principal, so it should be able to be redeemed."
Zhao Zhen said, "It's not just the Bianliang tea merchants. Now that spring tea is on the market, the tea merchants in Shuzhong have already sent tea from Chengdu Prefecture to Bianliang. They learned that Bianliang had opened a Jiaozi shop and deposited a large amount of money in Chengdu Prefecture. The Bianliang tea merchants have joined forces with them. These people are a big problem."
"I want to know how many Jiaozi bills these people have?"
"Some time ago, Shuzhong reported the remaining amount and simultaneously synchronized the Jiaozi stubs with the Bianliang Jiaozi Office. There are 1.27 million strings of cash on hand. If we only count the tea merchants, and add the Bianliang tea merchants, we estimate that the Jiaozi bills they hold are probably no less than 300,000 strings of cash."
"Three hundred thousand strings of cash?"
Yan Shu frowned and asked, "Chengdu Prefecture already has so much money, but distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. It will probably take three to five months to transport over a million strings of cash to Bianliang. And the exchange of bills of exchange at the Jiaozi Office will only take ten days at most. It seems the court needs to raise 300,000 strings of cash to prepare for this."
"Three hundred thousand strings of cash is no big deal. We can always find a way to get it. At worst, we can just transfer it from my treasury. What I'm worried about is that this is just the beginning, and there will be even bigger troubles later."
Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "The timing of the introduction of the Jiaozi and Jianqian systems this year is quite good. If the Jiaozi system hadn't been extended nationwide, tea merchants from all over the country wouldn't have been able to deposit their money locally and then withdraw it from Bianliang. But Chengdu Prefecture isn't the only place with tea merchants. If they persuaded the rest of the merchants to withdraw their money, the reserve funds Bianliang would need would exceed one million strings of cash. It's simply impossible to raise that much money in such a short period of time."
"It's a really big problem."
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