The system has to be used even if it is pulled

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Emperor Kang Zheng was discussing the Dong Xun incident with the six major military ministers. Dai Quan sneaked in and handed the secret report to Emperor Kang Zheng.

Emperor Kangzheng frowned and said, "Wei Li, how much silver is there in the treasury?"

Wei Li, the Minister of Revenue and Minister of Rites, hurriedly took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, about two million taels."

"The Imperial Guards have sent me news that there are unusual movements in Xinjiang. It is estimated that there may be a war in the winter. I would like to use one million taels as military expenses."

"No! Your Majesty, this money has a use. We also have to prepare for winter floods. The two million is for river management. If you take one million taels, the remaining one million taels will be gone in a flash. Who knows, some places may not be able to be managed. It's better not to manage it."

"Then what do you want me to do? If we don't send troops to the northwest, the entire Hetao area will soon fall into chaos, and countless people will be slaughtered."

None of the ministers spoke, and Emperor Kang Zheng was extremely worried. It happened that Zhao Yuanlang was delivering specific information about the northwest, and Emperor Kang Zheng stared at him.

"Wait a moment, I have something to ask you."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"There is unrest in the northwest now. I am ready to send troops, but the Ministry of Revenue does not have that much silver. What do you think I should do?"

"That's not right, Your Majesty. Last year, the land tax, salt tax, miscellaneous taxes, customs duties, and land tax alone totaled nearly 20 million taels. How could there be no money? Didn't the Emperor leave Your Majesty nearly 7 million taels?"

"Mr. Jia is right. To be exact, it is about 19.83 million taels. The emperor did leave 7 million taels, but he built the Jiaying Temple, which cost 2.88 million taels. He also fought two wars in the northwest two years ago, which cost 3.89 million taels."

"After deducting the money spent by the Emperor, we have only spent over 17 million this year. There should be at least 2 million taels left in the treasury."

"Indeed, there is money, 2.23 million taels. Mr. Jia knows it very well." Wei Li smiled.

"Two million taels is enough to fight twice. Plus, your Majesty just implemented the policy of changing the land ownership system to officialdom and the land tax system, which should be quite effective. How can it not be enough?"

"There is a lot of resistance everywhere, and coupled with this year's winter floods! And there is also the clan government!"

Seeing Zhao Yuanlang's puzzled expression, Wei Li slowly said, "After the Supreme Emperor came to power, he allowed many nobles to borrow money out of consideration for their difficult lives. A lot of money was lent out, and no one has asked for it back over the years."

"No, that's not right. Where's the salt tax? Didn't the salt tax increase by 370,000 taels this year? It's more than 1.6 million taels. Where's the money?"

Emperor Kangzheng was also a little embarrassed. He coughed twice and said, "I used the money from the salt tax to repair the Old Summer Palace."

"Then there is no other choice but to collect the debt."

"Your Majesty, this move cannot be made. If this loophole is opened, where is the face of the court, where is your Majesty's face?" The Minister of War, Duke of Chen, Liu Hui, spoke hurriedly. In fact, he was not doing this for the face of the court, but because he had IOUs of tens of thousands.

"Then Lord Liu, please find a solution. I can't think of one."

"you!"

"Enough! Collecting debts is indeed a loss of face for the royal family. Let's not mention this matter again." Emperor Kang Zheng was too embarrassed to do so.

“What if you repay the money voluntarily?”

The adults were all confused. What did this mean?

"Your Majesty, this." After Zhao Yuanlang glanced at the ministers around him, Emperor Kang Zheng understood.

"Okay, you all go down."

Outside the Qianqing Palace, Zhang Yuheng, the chief military advisor, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the Minister of Personnel, frowned and pulled Wei Li: "Youjie, what do you think the little brat from the Jia family is planning?"

"Hengchen, why do you care about this? Anyway, most of the loans were borrowed by the nobles. What does it have to do with us?"

After listening to the conversation between the two, the Grand Councilor, Minister of War, and Duke of Chen Liu Hui snorted coldly and walked away in big strides.

Within a few days, news spread among the clan officials that the clan government was investigating loans, but none of the nobles took it seriously.

Especially the meritorious people of the Zhiyuan faction, after receiving the news from Liu Hui and knowing that it was Zhao Yuanlang who took charge of this matter, they became even less concerned.

In the main hall of the Ning Mansion, behind a large number of founding heroes, even Jia Zheng and Jia She were here, and they were all talking about it.

"Brother, what are you doing? Why are you pointing the knife at our own people?" Niu Jizong asked first.

"It's nothing special. I'm just giving you a chance to get promoted and get into His Majesty's eyes."

"What do you mean, brother? Please explain it clearly." Chen Ruiwen asked with a frown.

"To be honest, there will be a war in the northwest in winter. His Majesty is short of money now. You all owe real money. Whoever pays the money first will catch the emperor's eye and may even be able to take the troops out for a walk."

When Zhao Yuanlang said this, the eyes of many nobles without real power lit up and they began to think about it.

"Besides, everyone knows that the new policies implemented by His Majesty have been frustrated everywhere, especially our big families, which have made His Majesty embarrassed. Now the opportunity has come. If you pay back the money and implement the new policies, I dare not say that your titles will be raised, but it is inevitable that you will be reused."

"But land is the foundation of the family!" Jia She said with a frown.

"Brother, you are confused. Power is the foundation of the family. With power, you have money and land."

"But we don't have so much money. How can we get tens of thousands of taels at once? Even if we could, we wouldn't dare to take it. After all, you know that." Jia Zheng said with a frown.

"It's okay. You can choose to pay back half or one third first, and then you can sign a document to pay back the rest within a few years. It's only a few thousand taels a year, so it shouldn't be a difficult task for you brothers."

Zhao Yuanlang's words made everyone's eyes sparkle. Niu Jizong stood up first and walked out.

"What are you going to do, Brother Niu?" Shi Guangzhu asked puzzledly.

"Go home and get the money." Niu Jizong said and ran away.

"You are such a cunning fellow." Everyone scolded him. They knew what Niu Jizong was up to, which was just to win the first prize. Everyone became even more anxious and did not even bother to say goodbye to Zhao Yuanlang. They ran away one by one.

"Master, what are you doing? Why are you out of breath?" Mrs. Xing asked puzzledly as she looked at Jia She, who was sweating profusely and running out of breath.

"You spendthrift woman, why are you asking? Where is the money at home?"

"There are still six thousand taels in the small warehouse!"

"This is not enough! Damn it, by the way, mother!" After saying that, Jia She ran away, leaving Mrs. Xing with a head full of question marks.

The same situation happened to Jia Zheng. Grandmother Jia was enjoying her tea in Rong Xi Hall, but she frowned when she saw the two brothers rushing in together.

"You are all masters of the family. How can you be so flustered and have no regard for etiquette at all?"

"Mother, stop talking. I want to withdraw nine thousand taels of silver."

"Mother, I want to withdraw 10,000 taels of silver."

"Why do you need so much money all of a sudden? Do you owe money outside? Do you gamble?" Grandmother Jia glared at the two of them unhappily.

"No, I want to pay back the money. I want to pay back the money to the court."

"Are you crazy? Paying back the court's money?"

So Jia Zheng and Jia She had to repeat what Zhao Yuanlang said. Grandmother Jia's eyes sparkled. She thought for a while, looked at her two sons who were anxious, and finally nodded.

"Yuanyang, take me to the inner storehouse."

That afternoon, the clan government saw many of the founding heroes coming to repay their debts with their heads covered. Each time they paid back a sum of tens of thousands of yuan, and for the remaining money, they signed a document stating that they would pay it back within a few years.