the next day.

The Political Affairs Hall issued a "donation order", calling on wealthy officials and gentry to donate money and grain to repair the damaged official road and bridge on Jiangnan West Road, etc.

Under Cai Bian's operation, the atmosphere in Bianjing City was very warm, and nearly a thousand people were queuing up in front of the household department to donate!

In just half a day, I received nearly 100,000 tuitions!

At this time, Cai Bian and Xu Jiangzheng came out of the Chuigong Hall, and their smiles were somewhat relaxed.

Cai Bian walked behind his hands and said, "The so-called misfortune and good fortune depend on each other. The matter of Jiangnan West Road has become an opportunity for the court to reverse its reputation. It is really time and fate..."

Seeing Cai Bian so much emotion, Xu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Is Mr. Cai happy?"

Cai Bian's smile suddenly turned into a bitter smile, and he said, "Everyone said that Xu Guild is a human being, I almost hold a grudge against you."

Xu Jiang smiled more and said, "The official just said that the royal ticket number will be subsidized by 500,000 guan, but the gap is still very large."

Cai Bian joked, shook his head helplessly, and said, "The inner treasury is not endless. The donation from the Ministry of Revenue is only 100,000 yuan, which is a drop in the bucket... By the way, Mr. Xu, can the army's food and salary be squeezed out a little?"

"You know now, why did I just squeeze you?" Xu Jiang said with a smile.

Cai Bian's eyes lit up and said, "Can you really have it?"

The expenditure of the army has always been the biggest expense of the Song Dynasty. After Zhao Xu took power, he immediately began to reform the army. However, if he wanted to reduce it safely, it would be impossible to cut it hard, and it required enough "retirement fees". Therefore, for a time, the expenditure of the army increased instead of reducing.

Although the spoils obtained from the Western Xia Dynasty were supplemented, they were far from enough.

In addition, Chengdu Prefecture Road was going to conquer Tubo, Guangnan West Road was eyeing Dali, so there was more food and salary.

Xu Jiang nodded and said, "The expenditure in the past two years has been large enough, and it has been slightly alleviated. The north has eased some, and the expenditure has also been reduced a lot. It is not a big problem to squeeze out a million."

One million means one million guan, which is equivalent to one million taels!

If it were in other dynasties, one million taels would definitely be a big figure, but in terms of nearly 100 million troops of the Song Dynasty, it would be a drop in the bucket!

"One million is enough!" Cai Bian said with some joy: "With this million, Jiangnan West Road can overcome the difficulties. When the summer grain comes up, the court can breathe a lot."

"more than,"

General Xu smiled a little more and said, "Before, I discussed and deduced it carefully with Xianggong Zhang. After next year, the military expenditure will be reduced a lot. The Xiang army is basically abolished, and the French army can be streamlined. The three camps, the Nandaying, the Thirteenth Route Garage, and the navy can enter the stable period. The investment will not increase too much. We can all take a breath."

After next year, Zhao Xu has been in charge of the rule for four years and the "military reform" has been in the process of four years.

Cai Bian listened, and his shoulders became much lighter unconsciously. He glanced at Xu Jiang and said with a smile: "It's still Xu Gong who can calm people's hearts..."

Xu Jiang said that he had passed next year and only started this year. He skipped two years in just one sentence. He couldn't understand the old fox like Cai Bian.

Xu Jiang walked slowly, nodded with the passing people, and then said, "In the past two years, I have to grit my teeth and endure it. The matter on Jiangnan West Road is not an isolated case, I am afraid it will be inevitable in the future."

Cai Bian snorted coldly, and said with a cold look on his face, "This kind of thing has been something that has happened since ancient times and is not unique to me in the Song Dynasty. But you are right, Jiangnan West Road must have enough shock, otherwise the 'new policy' will not be fully implemented."

Xu was extremely uneasy about the "New Party"'s eagerness for quick success and instant benefits. Although he didn't know how many times he persuaded him, he still said: "Mr. Cai, some things are not urgent. The stronger the pressure, the greater the rebound. You might as well loosen it, tighten it, and relax it properly, which is the way to govern the country for a long time."

Cai Bian stopped, looked at Xu Jiang, pondered for a moment, and said, "Mr. Xu, I have never said something to outsiders. Today, I want to say something."

Seeing that Cai Bian was serious, Xu stopped and stared at him calmly.

Cai Bian paused for a while before saying, "Governing a big country is like cooking a small freshman. I understand this principle, and the eldest grandfather understands it, and Li Qingchen, Lin Xi and others understand it too. Outsiders say that we return with anger, so we have become more and more aggressive towards the "new law" without any means. In fact, the so-called anger does exist, in the past and now. However, I and the eldest grandfather and others are very clear that the root cause of our anger is not a party struggle, but a major policy of the country. Our so-called revenge is not a liquidation, nor is it to do the same thing as those people, it is to eliminate bad policies and enrich the people and strengthen the country."

Xu Jiang nodded slightly and didn't say anything. Xu Jiang couldn't tell the difference between how many of Cai Bian's words were true or false, and he was afraid that Cai Bian himself could not tell.

“The reason why I’m so anxious,”

Cai Bian continued to say, "First, time is urgent, and we cannot delay. Second, we cannot give those people time, and we must catch them off guard. Third, we have too many ills in our Song Dynasty and cannot be solved one by one. We all know that this method of directly capsizing the ship is very problematic, but compared to procrastination, this method is better, and it is nothing more than to eliminate it. In the future, as long as we are latecomers who have left their posts and do not change their course, the problem will not be big and will be gradually eliminated..."

Xu Jiang had heard similar explanations long ago. The reason why he was persuaded was useless and said lightly: "I understand."

Cai Bian naturally hid more ideas. Seeing that Xu Jiang looked dull, he didn't say much and changed the topic.

In the current dynasty, under the huge encouraging of the "New Party", other factions no longer have the ability to hinder them.

At night, Funing Hall.

Meiren Liu was wearing a thin dress and holding a jewelry box, sitting by the bed, and said to Zhao Xu: "The official family, I know that the court continues to use money and has changed everything that can be changed in the palace. There are a total of 7,000 guan here, hoping to help the Shangguan family."

Zhao Xu was stunned, took the jewelry box and opened it, and it was Jiaozi from the Royal Ticket Number. Zhao Xu smiled and said, "If you want to redeem it, no matter how difficult the court is, it is not as good as you sell your property."

Liu Meiren had a serious face and said, "The official family, I want to help the official family. The Queen Mother tightly dressed in the harem and asked the sisters to donate some money. After all, I still have to give these to the official family. After all, it is useless to keep them..."

Zhao Xu heard it, laughed, pulled her onto the bed, patted her on the back, and said, "That's not necessary. I have someone to redeem it for you. Do you say that the harem has donated and did the mother donate too?"

Meiren Liu looked up at Zhao Xu and said, "I have donated it. I heard that the empress has taken out the most."

Zhao Xu looked up at the mosquito net and said, "Then let's bear it first and just survive these few years."

After these years, the redundant soldiers and officials can be greatly reduced, and the court can breathe a sigh of relief, and the palace will no longer have to be a seller like this.
Chapter completed!