Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

In the next few days, the account books of other frontier troops were also sent to the capital. Some of them immediately visited Prince Shun’s Mansion as soon as they arrived in the capital, and some went to the Prince’s Mansion of Zhenbei next door. They came to the door quietly in the middle of the night, each with their own considerations.

This also shows the generals' attitude towards this audit and their attitude towards King Shun, but there is only one person like the Southwest Army who didn't even come.

Mu Ziying only sent a letter to Li Xu, saying that the Southwest Army has not yet been integrated, and the annual military salary is not paid in time. Therefore, the Southwest Army has no account books to check, let alone military expenses to reduce.

Li Xu also responded in time, asking Mu Ziying to report the budget for the second half of the year, and the imperial court will pay it in batches. The premise is that Mu Ziying will complete the integration of the Southwest Army within one month, and those who refuse to obey the discipline will be beaten. There is no need to save face for the local clans. After so many years of governing alone, it is time to let them know who opened the court.

A few days later, Li Xu moved the account books of several families to Fengxian Hall, and announced the audit results in front of civil and military officials. Among them, the Northwest Army and Yunyang Army have the most powerful troops. The Bozhou Army and the Southwest Army have only 10 people, and the Lu Family Army has 20. These also form the Dayan border defense system. The most regular army in the country.

These five frontier armies don't even have a million people, but they spend tens of millions of taels a year, and the salary of an ordinary soldier is only about ten taels a year. Those with higher ranks may increase, but the increase is not enough. A lot, as for the military rations, it is calculated separately, and the iron ore needed for armor and weapons is also supplied by the state, what needs to be paid is only processing fees and parts fees, and the status of ancient craftsmen is low, and the annual income of blacksmithing is not much. Even many slaves and prisoners were assigned to work in the arsenal, with no salary except three meals a day.

Li Xu is not afraid of them making false accounts at all. The military salaries allocated by the imperial court are considerable, and the account books handed over by the frontier army must at least match the total, otherwise I will allocate you 1000 million taels, but you will only show me 100 million taels Account book, the remaining 900 million taels was embezzled?

The total number is right, and no matter how falsified the content is, it will be obvious. For example, the Northwest Army has a large part of the aid, sponsorship, and welfare expenses. Almost all of them are rewarded by the eldest prince to his subordinates or to win over the local aristocrats. For the gentry, the eldest prince only has the right to speak in the northwest if he has money to open the way.

The Yunyang Army also has a big problem. Most of their military expenditures are pensions, that is, money is given to the families of the soldiers who died. .

Is it more than a dozen taels?To Li Xu, it was not much, but ordinary people could not earn a few taels of silver a year, and pensions were not unlimited. Besides, there were 10,000+ people recorded on the list. I am afraid that all the soldiers who died in battle in the past were counted.

Not to mention the rest, it is Wu Yufeng's credit that Li Xu was able to find out the fake accounts of each family so quickly. He led the auditors who were temporarily recruited before and began to predict what the accounts of these troops would look like and how much their normal expenses would be. , made a simulation in all aspects, and when the real account books arrive, it will be clear at a glance where it is unreasonable.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, except for the Southwest Army, the rest of the Frontier Army should reduce their military expenditures. In the future, they should submit an application to the court on a monthly basis for the allocation of military salaries, and make a budget one year in advance so that the treasury can have enough time to allocate funds. As for the situation where the treasury is empty in the end."

A military general who voted for the eldest prince retorted disapprovingly: "What His Royal Highness Shun said is your own opinion, should you ask the generals first, maybe what you think is right may not be right?"

"That makes sense." Li Xu nodded, "I have also negotiated with their accountants. As for the understanding of military expenditures, these people should be the most clear about which ones are real and which ones are fake. Did they write it with their own handwriting? If anyone has doubts, they can also be called to the palace to argue? If the generals of the frontier army are not satisfied, they can also write notes and come back to appeal."

"But I will hear that, my lord, you just bought those accountants with money to make them do things according to your wishes."

"Oh? This king still needs to bribe them?" Li Xu's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief: "Does this king think too much money is too hot? I have only heard of subordinates giving gifts to Shangfeng, never heard of a dignified prince. And bribe these small accountants."

Many civil servants snickered, there is nothing wrong with King Shun's words, and they have been paying attention to the dynamics of Prince Shun's mansion. Some of those who came to the door brought important gifts, and some came empty-handed, but almost all left empty-handed when they left Yes, but everyone came out with different expressions, making it hard to guess what King Shun talked with them.

"You don't need to be suspicious. This king talked to them about some ways of doing business, but he didn't bribe them with money. He just gave them a few suggestions so that they could have their own way of making money, so that they could reduce the burden on the treasury. This is also called bribery. ?"

Nowadays, no one would doubt Li Xu's way of making money. He said that projects that can make money must be able to make money. I don't know how many aristocratic families want to curry favor with the stewards of Shun Palace to participate in their business, even if they take some shares.

King Shun gave away the way to make money so easily, even if he said it was a bribe, but what did he take advantage of?It is the national treasury that has reduced the military expenditure, and the money cannot go into the private treasury of King Shun, and it has strengthened the frontier army, which is very beneficial to the court.

To put it bluntly, King Shun is doing a great deed. He is an example of selflessness, and he can be so considerate of the country, the people, and the army. In the whole world, except for the emperor, King Shun is the king.

It can be said that although King Shun does not have the rights of an emperor, he has begun to assume the obligations of being a king. From this point of view, King Shun should be praised.

However, the ministers did not dare to boast that although the man on the dragon chair was old, he was neither deaf nor blind. King Shun may not win the Sacred Heart if he did too much.

Ever since Li Xu proposed to reduce military expenditures, he put himself in dire straits, and if he was not careful, his body would be smashed to pieces. Now all the generals of the frontier army bowed their heads, and the scene of uprising did not appear as everyone imagined. Wang is great.

Li Xu knew the crux of the emperor's problem, so he stood up and said, "Father, my son, please send officials to the border armies to supervise the army. Commissioner, just take care of finances and not take part in the war."

What Li Xu said was to let the emperor come forward to control the generals under his command. Originally, those who could be the frontier commanders were all the emperor's confidantes, but trusting such things is not absolute, and the emperor would also worry about the merits of these generals who hold heavy troops Gao Zhenzhu, and then he had a different heart.

If they can firmly control their money income and expenditure, it will undoubtedly be double insurance.

The emperor's previous unhappiness dissipated, "Yes, as King Shun said, I will discuss the candidates with the cabinet, and the list will be announced in three days."

The eldest prince also came to court today, and he didn't stand up when the Northwest Army was mentioned, but now he stood up and said: "Father, my son has something to say."

The emperor glared at him, he had saved enough face just now so he didn't attack him on the spot, otherwise the unidentified silver would be enough for his eldest son to drink a pot.

"What are you going to say?" the emperor asked unhappily.

"My son... my son asked himself that he has worked hard all these years. He guarded the northwest and dared not bring a single cent, and he also fought with the Huns and other foreign tribes every year. Even if there is no credit, there is hard work. My son spent more money, but the money is not worth it. The pockets of my ministers are all used for the people in the northwest, my ministers may be wrong, but I hope the emperor will give my ministers a chance to reform themselves."

The eldest prince has a strong desire to survive, and knows that the emperor will settle accounts after the fall, but he is very wronged. The money he asked for before was approved by the emperor, and he did not take it without greed. Even if he spends a little more, it is nothing. ?If he doesn't stand up, maybe the next issue is to abolish his title of prince and take back his military power.

The emperor looked at him with hatred. Of course, it was not just one person who was wrong in this matter. Everyone in the court who agreed to the military expenditure was at fault. Of course, the emperor was also at fault. He was the one who built the jade seal and the imperial edict. , the money was spent with his acquiescence, and now Li Xu is asking for the overspending money back in the name of checking the accounts. Why is this eldest son so dishonest?

Do I have to admit that I was wrong in front of the court civil and military?Shouldn't this matter just end here, and then make things right, and let it be what it should be in the future?

As for this son, the emperor didn't think about doing anything to him. After all, he was the only prince who could compete with Li Xu. As long as he didn't die, the eldest prince had to stay.

"Your matter will be discussed after the court is over. I don't want to reprimand you in front of civil and military officials. You are not young. You should learn from your second brother and be more stable."

The emperor's words were like a slap in the face of the eldest prince. He lowered his head, his face full of anger and unwillingness, "Yes, father, I will definitely improve in the future!"

"Okay, let's not talk about this, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and the weather is good this year, so the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet will be held more grandly, so that the common people can also feel happy."

Li Xu didn't notice it for a while, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was almost over. This summer seemed to be extremely short, and it was already the end of summer at this time. He still remembered that when he left the capital and went south, it seemed to be this season.

Li Xu glanced back at Kou Xiao. He has been in this world for five years. Whether it is long or not, he has gained a lover and family, and a career. Shen, maybe it's a situation where everything is lost.

He couldn't afford to lose. If he was the only one, he wouldn't be afraid of death, but there were countless people standing behind him. Once he lost, those involved might line up from the imperial city to the gate of the city.

Li Xu raised his head and glanced at the emperor. He is really old and his health is not good. He spends half of the time in the morning with his eyes closed to rest his mind, and the number of memorials is getting less and less. Now the civil and military officials of the whole court have decided that Li Xu is the next one. Prince, it is reasonable for him to supervise the country, but Li Xu has no idea, other people's opinions are secondary, the main thing is to see what the emperor wants.

He lowered his head and said, "Father, I have built a sea ship that can sail out to sea. I heard that there are fairy islands overseas. Although I have never seen it, a caravan went out to search for it and brought back some rare treasures." Bao, why don't you take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and send it to the palace to give your father the palm of your hand."

"Overseas Immortal Island?" The emperor suddenly became excited, "Someone really found Overseas Immortal Island? Who went there? You can see immortals?"

Li Xu hurriedly replied: "It's not a real fairy island, it's just a little different from the mainland. The products are more abundant, and there are some things that we don't have here. It may not be the place where immortals live."

"No, no, if you let them come to Beijing, I will ask them face to face."

Li Xu answered yes, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into an arc.