Chapter 4673 His heart can be punished
The amount of information was a bit large, and several ministers were silent, their heads turning rapidly, trying to figure out the key points.
Li Chengqian didn't understand what needed to be considered. Wouldn't it be nice to use banknotes to solve the current "money shortage" problem?
But he is an honest person after all, or maybe it was Fang Jun's "emperor's credit" that made him tremble and walk on thin ice, so after thinking about it again and again, he felt a little embarrassed and asked in a low voice: "But the problem is that my internal funds are not that good." Much money.”
If there were more than tens of millions of money, there would be no need to issue banknotes to lend to wealthy families. Since there is no such money, but these banknotes are issued, if the Ministry of Civil Affairs comes to cash it, what will it give to others?
If you can't give it, your "emperor's credit" will go bankrupt.
This is a huge event. Li Chengqian takes his reputation and prestige very seriously. He wants to prove to the world that he can be a good emperor and prove that Emperor Taizong's decision to abolish Chu was wrong, so he will never Ruining one's reputation for mere money.
I issued 10,000 gu banknotes to someone, but when they came to cash it out, I had no money. Isn't this a rogue thing?
It is conceivable that if this scene really happened, the world would be full of complaints, the historians would be so sharp-minded, and the government and the public would be so excited about things...
Just thinking about it made Li Chengqian unbearable.
Fang Jun said with a smile: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Since the banknotes are issued with His Majesty's credit as a guarantee, Your Majesty will naturally guarantee the value of the banknotes. With the gold and silver currently stored in His Majesty's internal funds, the difference will not be too big." Large. When these banknotes arrive at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there is no need to cash them all at once. The Ministry of Civil Affairs can even use them to pay some large bills. The amount of expenses... Moreover, the value of the land redeemed by the Henan family is currently around 15 million guan. It is impossible for them to borrow all of it, otherwise the interest will be life-threatening. According to my estimate, the shortfall is about 4 million guan. So the main thing is. The question is whether the Ministry of Civil Affairs believes that His Majesty will redeem these banknotes in equal amounts.”
The problem came to Tang Jian.
Tang Jian was already aware of the dangers of banknotes, but when he raised his head to meet His Majesty's earnest gaze, he could only suppress the worries in his heart: "Your Majesty is mellow and loving, and has the style of his father and ancestors. How can I not believe it? Not only the veteran If you can trust it, everyone in the world can trust it.”
This was not a flattering statement, he knew Li Chengqian's situation well, and it was impossible for Li Chengqian to break his promise and get rich, both in public and private matters.
Moreover, it is only four million dollars. Even if His Majesty breaks his promise and fails to fulfill his promise, the Ministry of Civil Affairs can still afford it.
For a moment, he forgot that this was not just Henan Prefecture, but also all states and counties in the world. The final value must be multiplied by ten on the basis of four million guan...
Li Chengqian said happily: "I am the emperor, so I must be trustworthy. Otherwise, who would be loyal to me and to the Tang Dynasty? Besides, with such a large amount of money and silk loaned to aristocratic families, the interest I received is already a huge figure. I am satisfied. I definitely won’t drink poison to quench my thirst.”
Even if it is only four million dollars, the annual interest is an astonishing figure. It is pleasant to think about how to make money without having to sit back and forth...
The matter seemed to be solved perfectly. The emperor and his ministers were all dizzy with this huge sum of money, wondering what they could do after getting the money.
Fang Jun took a sip of tea, put down the cup, and said, "There is still an important matter to discuss with His Majesty and all his colleagues."
Li Chengqian was in a good mood and asked with a smile: "Erlang is gifted and quick-thinking. It must be a big deal to be so solemn. Let's talk about it and brainstorm."
It seems that every suggestion made by Fang Jun is of great benefit to him as the emperor, so now he is full of expectations. If he comes up with another suggestion like "paper money", he, the emperor, can probably wait for his name and go down in history.
He doesn't have any extravagant hopes for "one emperor for all eternity". He will be satisfied as long as there is a sentence of "Mingjun and Holy Lord" recorded in the history books...
Fang Jun looked at Li Ji: "Young Master Ying is the pillar of the empire and a giant in the military. You should know that the military system of the Tang Dynasty was inherited from the former Sui Dynasty and originated from the six towns. Our ancestors relied on it to expand the territory, conquer all directions, and continuously create the Sui and Tang dynasties. It can be said that Unique in the world. However, times have changed, and the advanced system in the past has now become full of shortcomings, especially Emperor Taizong. The emperor made many reforms to the military system, resulting in a chaotic situation. Recruiting troops and government troops were carried out in parallel, and there was no uniform standard for rewards and punishments. In particular, the armies were not subordinate to each other and their rights and responsibilities were unclear. Eventually, Changsun Wuji appeared. In my opinion, the chaos in the army during the two consecutive mutinies of King Jin should be reformed. ”
There was a moment of silence in the imperial study room, and even the air was somewhat solemn.
It is about the military system, which involves the foundation of the empire. In comparison, issuing banknotes can only be regarded as a trivial matter...
Liu Jie didn't even wait for Fang Jun to propose how to reform the military system, but he fundamentally opposed it: "The military system is the foundation of the country, how can it be easily shaken? Since the Tang Dynasty was founded on it, Gaozu and Taizong also fought with it to open up frontiers. Expanding the land and dominating the world proves this The military system is strong and correct, so why should it be changed? Although the Duke of Yue has outstanding military achievements, he cannot attempt to tamper with the country for his own selfish interests. Once the country is shaken and the country is unstable, he will be a sinner for the ages! ”
Since it was Fang Jun who proposed reforming the military system, no matter how the changes were made, it would definitely be beneficial to Fang Jun. Nowadays, Fang Jun's power and status are already high and unshakable. If it goes further, what is the point of competing with him?
Fang Jun was helpless and said with disdain: "That's why I always say that 'official beetles' harm the country. Officials like Liu Zhongshu sit in the center and rule the world. What they want in their hearts is not to work hard to strengthen the country, but to use 'thousands of people' at every turn." People like "Old Sinners" are judgmental with alarmism. They would rather stay in the past than keep pace with the times. Their idea is to "do more mistakes and not do good things." They have no responsibility and I am ashamed to be among them. "
Liu Jie disagreed: "Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes, how can we mess with it at will? Every policy and every decision of the central government is related to the entire world. A single order is enough to turn a state upside down, so safety should be the priority. The Tang army marched across the world and was invincible, so there was no need to change.”
Fang Jun responded tit for tat: "Liu Zhongshu has different paths in civil and military affairs. Liu Zhongshu has never even been on the battlefield, so how can he say such irresponsible words as 'no need to change'? If you say that I have hidden selfish motives, then you might as well ask Ying Gong, what I said Are there any disadvantages? ”
Everyone, including Li Chengqian, looked at Li Ji.
Although Fang Jun has now become a giant in the military, raising a banner as high as Li Ji, and has great military achievements and outstanding achievements, when it comes to military attainments, Li Jing is the most popular in everyone's mind. After Li Jing became an official, Li Ji was the first person in the court.
Fang Jun could lead the army to win the battle, but in terms of military attainments, Li Ji was the absolute authority.
Li Ji stroked his beard, thought for a moment, nodded and said: "The current military system does have many shortcomings. There are no dangers in the short term, but in the long run, the hidden dangers are not small."
There is actually room for this. Although he is not obsessed with power, as the leader of the military, he is naturally unwilling to give up military power. Now he is not sure what Fang Jun is thinking, so he is just vague.
But he also gave a relatively affirmative answer, which put Liu Ji in a dilemma. As a civilian leader, although he had the right and responsibility to intervene in military affairs, once he did so, it would easily trigger fierce opposition from the military, leading to sharp conflicts between the civil and military forces. .
So after thinking for a while, he just said in a deep voice: "This is a big matter, so we should consider it in the long term."
Ma Zhou, who had not spoken much, spoke up at this time, and he was not very polite: "Zhongshu Ling's words are wrong. Because the matter is so big, it cannot be delayed for a long time, causing the evil to deepen. Otherwise, wouldn't it be suspected of neglecting government? ”
Liu Ji's face was dark. Although Zhongshu Ling and Shi Zhong were of equal rank, they had always respected Zhong Shuling. Now that Shi Zhong refuted him face to face, he was naturally annoyed.
However, he did not have an attack. Instead, he looked at Fang Jun and asked, "But I don't know how Duke Yue plans to deal with this problem?"
In his view, the reason why Fang Jun mentioned this matter was that he wanted to significantly control the military power through reforming the military system and increase his position and power in the military. This was clearly a pretext for favoritism and evil intentions.
As long as Fang Jun reveals his intention to seize power, he can counterattack.
Fang Jun said calmly: "The reason why the armies in various places have inconsistent management, chaotic management, serious losses, and weak logistics is that the army across the country cannot be unified and has multiple orders. If we want to cure this stubborn disease, we must set up a unified army to oversee the whole country." The yamen of the army have unified military power and are directly responsible to His Majesty. ”
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the imperial study was shocked again.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the country's army was divided into six towns, which were not subordinate to each other and operated independently. During the former Sui Dynasty, the army was divided into sixteen guards, who were directly responsible to the emperor. Until this dynasty followed the military system of the former Sui Dynasty, it was composed of Emperor Wu of Wei, Emperor Wen of Sui, and Didn’t Emperor Taizong know anything about military matters?
No, these three are all heroes of the moment and are proficient in military affairs. Naturally, they cannot fail to see the disadvantages.
The reason why it remains the same lies in the word "checks and balances."
The decentralization of military power does bring a lot of inconveniences. For a long time, it may even lead to the separation of one party and the loss of the tail. However, the advantage of this is that the emperor is in the middle to command and dispatch, and the military power is in his hands, and there will be no "powerful ministers" who steal military power.
Now Fang Jun actually proposes to break this situation of checks and balances among all parties and unify the scattered military power... The problem is that Li Chengqian grew up in the palace and was a woman's hand. Although he was taught by famous teachers, he never went to the battlefield and charged into battle, so he had insufficient knowledge. , Insufficient courage and lack of ability. Such an emperor can only remain the leader of the army in name, but in fact he absolutely cannot do so.
Otherwise, a haphazard order will be enough to cause immeasurable disastrous consequences...
Under such circumstances, if military power is unified, who will take command of the three armies instead of the emperor? Liu Jie thought that this was indeed the case. The second wolf in the house was ambitious. He usually appeared indifferent to fame and wealth, but was actually greedy and ambitious. Since he proposed the establishment of an yamen to oversee the entire army, it was natural for him to take charge of this yamen himself in order to achieve its goals. The goal of "the first person in the military" is destructive!
(End of chapter)