100 Three Offices
"You're so poor, I'm afraid you'll starve to death."
Shen Suqin's carriage had just come to a stop in front of the General's Mansion when it was taken away by the Imperial Guards from the palace.
Xu Youcai, carrying a broad axe, followed closely behind Shen Suqin's carriage all the way to the palace gate.
Eunuch Yan had been waiting for a long time.
The carriage stopped. Eunuch Yan, not hearing any movement inside, lifted the curtain to peek inside. Seeing that Shen Suqin showed no signs of waking up, he thought for a moment and then said on his own initiative, "Drive the carriage in, but slowly."
This is a treatment that even ordinary members of the royal family rarely receive.
After giving his instructions, he whispered to Xu Youcai, "Sir, His Majesty only said he wanted to see Madam Xiao."
Xu Youcai: "Then you can tell her for me that I'll be waiting for her outside the palace gate."
"Don't worry, sir."
The carriage arrived at Zhengde Gate, but it was impossible to get in.
Then Eunuch Yan called out to her gently, "Madam, wake up, we've arrived."
Shen Suqin opened her eyes, lifted the curtain and came out. At first glance, she saw the three big characters "Zhengde Gate" above her head. After a moment's thought, she knew that it was because Eunuch Yan had made an exception. She jumped out of the carriage and curtsied, "Thank you, Eunuch Yan."
Eunuch Yan stepped aside to avoid her bow, saying, "Let's go inside. His Majesty is waiting in the Imperial Study."
Shen Suqin nodded.
"Knowing you were coming, His Majesty's appetite has improved these past few days."
Shen Suqin laughed: "I haven't had a good appetite for several days."
"Madam is too kind."
In just a few steps, the two arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Study.
Eunuch Yan: "Madam, please go in. His Majesty instructed that you need not be announced when you come."
"Thank you for your trouble, sir."
Shen Suqin had been to the Eastern Palace several times, but this was her first time visiting the Imperial Study.
Pushing open the door, one is immediately struck by the bright yellow dragon throne directly in front of them, and the vermilion pillars on both sides with golden dragons coiled around them, creating a magnificent sight.
"Well? Does this Imperial Study meet your standards?" Shi Ye, seated in the highest position, suddenly spoke up.
Shen Suqin raised an eyebrow slightly and bowed as required by custom, but was stopped halfway by Shi Ye, who said, "No need for that, you didn't really want to kneel anyway."
Shen Suqin didn't stand on ceremony and stood up to say, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
After she finished thanking him, Shi Ye stared at her intently for a long time before finally speaking, "I tried to persuade you before, but you wouldn't agree. Why did you come here so readily this time? Or do you want to exchange something again?"
"Is His Majesty displeased with my presence?"
Shi Ye hurriedly waved his hand: "I issued three imperial edicts to invite you here. Do you think I didn't want you to come?"
Shen Suqin shrugged.
Shi Ye stepped down from his seat and handed her a thick stack of booklets, saying, "These are the national treasury's accounts for the past year. Can you take a look and see where the problems are?"
After saying that, he beckoned someone to bring her a chair so she could sit down and watch.
Shen Suqin didn't stand on ceremony and sat down generously. She turned directly to the last page, and after seeing the balance of "56,321 taels", she chuckled and teased Shi Ye, "Why don't you quit being the emperor? You're so poor, I'm afraid you'll starve to death."
Shi Ye gave a fake smile: "Could you hold off on the sarcastic remarks and help me find the reason?"
"The reason?" Shen Suqin flipped through the pages, seemingly only glancing at them briefly, before closing the book and saying, "Why waste time? What's so difficult about using the entire nation's resources to create a flawless ledger? I think you don't need to look for the reason; just completely overhaul the budget from top to bottom. That would be much more efficient."
"And what happens after you change it?"
"It's all about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, need I say more?"
Shi Ye sighed deeply, "If we open up more sources of income, the people will be left with nothing but the northwest wind. The root cause is still the corruption of officials."
This means that taxes are added at each level, but the tax revenue is intercepted along the way and does not reach the national treasury.
"Don't you know this yourself? If the problem of corruption isn't solved, the national treasury will never be full."
"How do I solve this? I don't have any power to help punish corrupt officials."
Shen Suqin thought about it and realized that it made sense. He had only mentioned changing the land system before, and he, the crown prince, was almost killed.
Even though he's now the emperor, he still has to be mindful of the opinions of various powerful forces.
Shen Suqin looked at him sympathetically and said, "Forget it, let's take another route."
"How so?"
"Has Your Majesty considered having the imperial court handle business on your behalf?"
Shi Ye's gaze sharpened slightly, and he leaned forward, gesturing for her to continue.
"Salt and iron are essential to the lives of ordinary people. I know that the court has always controlled them, but where has the money gone? Furthermore, there are many small countries outside of Daliang, such as Shatuo, Yuezhi, and Parthia. They want Daliang's tea and porcelain. If Your Majesty doesn't earn this money, who do you plan to let earn it?"
Shen Suqin had heard Yan Lin mention these things before, saying that once the border war ended and trade resumed, he would personally open up trade routes between Daliang and Yuezhi, Parthia, and other countries to facilitate trade between the two sides.
She was quite tempted by this.
However, trade routes are a matter for later; the Shatuo are now advancing aggressively, and the war is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Shi Ye was pacing back and forth in front of Shen Suqin, his brows furrowed, and asked, "Do you mean the court should establish a special department to do these things?"
"yes."
"It can compete with the people for profit..."
"Your Majesty, are the people you refer to the powerful aristocratic families who control local finances?"
Those who profited from salt and iron were not ordinary people, but local tycoons with power and influence.
Shi Ye shook his head.
Shen Suqin went a step further, "So what if it's competing with the people for profit? His Majesty will bear the infamy, while the national treasury will profit. Isn't it obvious who benefits?"
Hearing this, Shi Ye suddenly chuckled, "You've certainly thought things through thoroughly, but have you considered the specifics of how to implement it?"
Shen Suqin stood up; she was getting tired of sitting. "To be honest, I haven't thought it through completely yet. I need to find someone to help me."
She didn't have a very clear understanding of the official system of Daliang, and the control of salt and iron needed to be thoroughly managed from top to bottom.
Who do you want to use?
"My cheap cousin, I guess."
"Alright, I will summon him to the palace immediately. During your stay in the capital, you will reside in the palace. For anything you need, just ask Eunuch Yan."
Shen Suqin knew that Eunuch Yan was the chief eunuch in the palace and only served Shi Ye. Shi Ye's instructions showed that he valued her.
However, she couldn't be so reckless. "Eunuch Yan is busy enough serving His Majesty, I can just find someone else for me."
Shi Ye curled the corners of his lips, "Shen Suqin."
"ah?"
"You also have times when you're afraid."
"Tsk, what kind of talk is that, Your Majesty? I'm just following the rules."
Shi Ye raised an eyebrow. He discovered another great quality in the person in front of him: knowing when to stop.
As night fell, Pei Tingfeng was summoned to the palace and spent the entire night in the study with Emperor Xingwu.
Pei Tingfeng is no longer a minor official in charge of land; he has joined the Ministry of Revenue and become the Right Vice Minister of Revenue.
It is worth mentioning that the Minister of Revenue is getting old, and Pei Tingfeng has made almost all the decisions on matters large and small in the ministry, which shows that a promotion is just around the corner.
Therefore, everyone in the capital said that the Pei family was highly regarded by the emperor, but Prime Minister Pei did not resign and left, and there was no sign of his return for a long time.
The court publicly stated that Prime Minister Pei had a deep affection for the late emperor, cared for him during his illness, and believed that he would return one day.
But the Pei family knew that day would never come.
Pei Tingfeng didn't sleep all night. After the court assembly the next day, he was summoned to the Imperial Study by His Majesty, accompanied by the Minister of Revenue.
"I have summoned you all here because there is something I need to discuss with you," Shi Ye said bluntly. "I propose to abolish the Ministry of Revenue and establish the Ministry of Salt, Iron and Tea, which will be directly under the Ministry of Revenue and called the Three Departments, with the Commissioner of the Three Departments making all the necessary arrangements."
After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.
The Minister of Revenue squinted and glanced at Pei Tingfeng from afar, wondering if this was the new policy he had discussed with His Majesty last night. How could it be so sudden?
"Your Majesty, what are the duties of these Three Commissioners?" asked the Minister of Revenue.
"I intend to bring salt, iron, and tea under the control of the imperial court. The three commissioners will naturally be in charge of salt and iron refining, mining, transportation, and sales. Lord Pei," Emperor Xingwu looked at him, "tell me how much salt and iron tax revenue was collected by the Great Liang last year?"
"Your Majesty, last year the salt tax totaled over 413,400 taels, and the ironware tax totaled over 237,000 taels."
In Daliang, the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the national registered population and taxes, while the Ministry of Finance was in charge of fiscal revenue and expenditure and grain transport. Daliang had previously also regulated salt, iron, and tea, but this was mainly for the purpose of collecting taxes on salt, iron, and tea.
However, taxes on salt, iron, and tea were not high, and much of it was intercepted by powerful families and gentry in various regions, so very little actually went into the national treasury.
"The population of Daliang is more than ten million. These people need to eat salt every day, and the expenses required are far more than a few tens of thousands of taels. Gentlemen, if we put this money into the national treasury, why would we need to rack our brains to save money all day long?"
Shi Ye had kept these words to himself for a long time since he had spoken with Shen Suqin that day.
The imperial court spends money to support hundreds of people in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance, but they can only complain about being poor and can't think of any solutions.
If Shen Suqin hadn't proposed state monopoly on salt and iron, who among them would have thought of these things?
"But Your Majesty, since ancient times, officials have not competed with the people for profit. If we rashly take over the salt and iron industry, I'm afraid it will cause public resentment," the Minister of Revenue said, revealing his concern.
"Public resentment?" Shi Ye sneered. "Haven't there been enough public resentment these past few years? Not to mention the distant past, Liangzhou recently suffered a severe drought, and the national treasury has been so stingy for over a month that it hasn't even allocated any grain or silver for disaster relief. Tell me, isn't public resentment in Liangzhou serious?"
The people of Liangzhou were naturally deeply resentful, and they all came out to rebel.
"I have no idea what you all are doing every day. You are paid by the emperor and are obligated to serve him. I will take care of this matter. Just listen to me."
From then on, the Minister of Revenue dared not voice any further objections, and only asked, "What about the Three Commissioners?"
Shi Ye didn't answer him directly, but instead spoke gently to the screen not far away: "Aren't you coming out?"
The Minister of Revenue and others followed Emperor Xingwu's gaze and saw a woman walk out.
Pei Tingfeng seemed to be deep in thought, while the Minister of Revenue looked astonished.
"Does Your Majesty intend to allow a woman to serve as an official in the court? This is probably against the rules of our ancestors," said the Minister of Revenue.
Shen Suqin bowed and asked, "May I ask Your Excellency, is there any law in the Great Liang Dynasty that explicitly forbids women from serving as officials in the court?"
The Minister of Revenue was speechless.
After a long pause, he stammered, "There isn't one, but there's no precedent either."
"Since there is no precedent, I will start with myself. When I enter the court as an official, won't that be a precedent for those who come after me?"
"You... are just making excuses."
Shen Suqin gave a fake smile.
"Your Majesty." The Minister of Revenue, unable to win an argument with her, turned to berate His Majesty.
"There is no need to discuss this matter further. I will read out the imperial edict at the morning court tomorrow. Whether the national treasury's tax revenue will double or quadruple next year depends entirely on Commissioner Shen. In addition, Vice Minister Pei should put aside his current affairs and fully cooperate with Commissioner Shen. You should know that the national treasury is empty and spring plowing is just around the corner. If the national treasury is not replenished, it will be a major problem if spring plowing is delayed."
Pei Tingfeng bowed respectfully: "Your subject obeys the decree."
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