Zhang Dongzheng, I really don’t know how to solve this problem!
In front of His Majesty, he was too embarrassed to admit that he was the top scholar. He really wanted to tell the world that his top spot was actually bought with money...
Ye Hongxue wondered what other methods could be used to light this pile of firewood? Will-o'-the-wisp...
Chao Man'er and Baili Qinru were also thinking about it, the eldest prince was also thinking about it, and Song Chi was also thinking about it!
Only Erhu—why bother thinking? Stupid! Your Majesty must know the answer! Wait three days, won't it be revealed? This guy hates using his brain the most!
Hu Panyuan couldn't help but ask Zhang Xiaofeng, "You have a lot of clever ideas. Have you figured out a solution?"
Zhang Xiaofeng kept shaking his head: "No!"
"Is this true? I don't believe it!"
"I'm kidding, you won't marry your sister to me! Haha!"
Zhang Xiaofeng felt that he usually had a lot of clever ideas, but like everyone else, he found the question raised by His Majesty incredible - except for His Majesty, no one else could do it, right?
When he asked this question, Baili Tang had already thought of two solutions. It happened to be noon now, and it would also be noon in three days. It was late autumn, and the weather was clear and crisp...
He didn't mean to insult the intelligence of ancient people, just to popularize some natural science knowledge to everyone in advance!
This question is related to magnifying glasses and mirrors!
Actually, he learned these two methods, one from his elementary school science class, and the other from his junior high school physics class.
After hearing the question, Sima Yu, Wanyan Ada and other envoys said a few polite words and went back to discuss the answer.
Baili Tang walked up to his two children and said to them, "Go back and think of the answer. If you figure it out, father will reward you greatly!"
"It's Father!" The two children ran away excitedly!
Chao Man'er asked expectantly, "What about me? Will there be a reward too?"
“There are rewards!”
Then Ye Hongxue also joined in the fun: "Your Majesty, what about me? If I figure out the answer..."
Baili Tang asked her in return, "Isn't this your duty as a minister? Thinking about rewards every day! Do you want a reward?"
Ye Hongxue made a face at him! She thought, I don't want to think about it, just like that couplet, there's no solution! The more I think about it, the more it strains my brain!
The next day, early morning court.
There are two major issues that need to be resolved today.
First, the question of whether the Lin family army had already dispatched troops was raised. Taiwei Lin replied that they had already dispatched troops in accordance with the imperial decree. Baili Tang felt that this was not enough and that a military supervisor must be sent. Taishi Liang was responsible for selecting the supervisors, but he could not choose Ye Chao, Meng Fang, and others.
General Lin no longer cared about the matter of the military supervisor. He only wanted to properly resolve the second matter: was it time to pay the annual tribute from the Northern Dan Kingdom?
Baili Tang asked the official from the Ministry of Revenue, "...How's the progress on the individual income tax?"
Lord Meng said, "Your Majesty, 70% of the money has been collected from officials in the imperial court. Due to geographical restrictions, only 20% of the money has been collected from officials outside the capital. The majority of the rest is already on its way back! I suggest collecting money on a quarterly basis, which would save a lot of trouble compared to collecting it monthly."
"Well, my dear, you've done a good job." Baili Tang praised, "However, with such a large amount of silver, aren't you worried about the safety of the road and the possibility of encountering thieves? Can you use silver notes..."
"This?" Lord Meng was not only worried about thieves, but also worried about them day and night. He really didn't expect that the personal income tax of any county magistrate for three months could add up to more than ten thousand taels of silver... It can be seen how rich these people are.
"Chao Hong," Baili Tang said to Chao Hong, "Your Ministry of Commerce will handle the issue of the banknotes."
"Hey!" Chao Hong and Prince An both came to the court. After all, their positions were very high, so they had to come.
"Brother Emperor, what is a silver note?" asked Prince An.
Baili Tang answered his question with the explanation of paper money: "Silver notes (paper money) are currency symbols issued by the state and are mandatory for use. They have the same purchasing power as gold, silver, and copper coins."
Prince An asked again, "Brother, the banknotes are made of paper, right? Wouldn't it be easy for someone with ulterior motives to forge them? Wouldn't that cause chaos?"
Baili Tang: "Well, you asked a very good question. This is also an issue that your Ministry of Commerce urgently needs to solve. Since it is easy to be imitated, you must find a way to solve this problem. General Lin, solve your problem first."
Taiwei Lin stepped out from the crowd and said, "Your Majesty, the autumn harvest has been completed throughout the country. Although the court has not increased taxes on farmers, it is time to pay the existing taxes. So, can the over one million yuan in income tax collected by the Ministry of Revenue for two people be paid to the Northern Dan Kingdom first?"
Baili Tang leaned over and said, "I'm puzzled. Why are you, General Lin, so concerned about the affairs of Beidan? The deadline at the end of the year hasn't even arrived yet. Don't forget, you are from Jingguo, not Beidan! My dear ministers, please vote. Those who agree to give the one million taels to Beidan immediately, please stand up!"
No one stood up. Anyone who stood up at this time is crazy!
Giving money to the Northern Dan Kingdom now is equivalent to giving them strategic materials! Let them have enough food and clothing, so that they have the strength to attack you?
Lin Taiwei guessed this would be the outcome, but there was nothing he could do. He had to say, "Your Majesty, you once said: When a country prospers, the people suffer; when it perishes, the people suffer! War will destroy the country..."
Baili Tang choked him to death with one sentence: "Do I want to go to war?"
Then he walked down from below and asked: "Did I send troops to the border?"
"Am I going to forcefully marry someone else's concubine in front of all the ministers?"
Three soul-searching questions!
It is indeed not Baili Tang who wants to provoke a war, but Beidan Kingdom and Yue Kingdom!
"If you want to stop this war, then you figure out a way!" Baili Tang said, "Use money, or your daughter... Anyway, it's up to you. I've been bullied like this, there's absolutely no way I'm going to give them a cent of tribute! Besides, winter's almost here, and will there be snowstorms or plagues? Will we need disaster relief? This is all I have, and you're..."
Grand Tutor Liang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right! You can't even eat enough yourself, yet you still give money to others. How can such a thing be justified in this world?"
Others also started talking about it!
If they did that, wouldn't that be too cowardly? They might as well just hand the country over to someone else now!
General Lin wanted to cry. He really wanted to cry! How could things have turned out like this? It was as if the Lin family had been isolated and helpless overnight! They had even become "traitors" in the eyes of the people of Jingguo!
what to do?
The Lin family can afford this one million taels of silver!
But if they pay this money, it would be equivalent to supporting the Northern Dan army!
If the Lin family does not go out, and the war breaks out, at least half of their 300,000-strong army will be lost, right?
For a moment, Commandant Lin wanted to rush up and strangle Baili Tang to death!
We shouldn't have let this tyrant emperor return to the capital alive!
Letting a tiger go back into the mountains will bring endless troubles!
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