Physician of the Song Dynasty: Zhang Kai and Li Qingzhao have a private life-long contract

A small butterfly in the tropical jungle, flapping its wings, will soon set off a storm in a distant place.

The butterfly effect was extremely popular in later generations, but between the Liao Dynasty and the Jurchens, the butterfly effect was quietly brewing!

Thousand-year-old ginseng! The good medicine that can extend life has attracted countless people's pursuit, and its impact is naturally more profound.

However, the butterfly effect caused by ginseng had not yet appeared in the Jurchens, but it had already affected the Song Dynasty.

"The household department is out of money?"

In the Chui Gong Hall, Fan Zheng opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief.

He was applying for money from the court to implement the ginseng plan, but he did not expect to receive such a response.

"That's right! The household department is indeed out of money." Fan Chun, the assistant minister of the household department, spread his hands helplessly.

In the Song and Liao countries, ginseng craze has started, and naturally the doctors and the court are indispensable for this. Seeing that the plan is going smoothly, the Liao Kingdom and the Jurchens have successfully taken the bait, but the court has no money to promote it. In this way, wouldn't it be a failure?

"How could the imperial court have no money? The imperial court just issued five million treasury bonds last year." Fan Zheng didn't believe it at all. The five million treasury bonds were guaranteed in the name of the doctors. In the end, the five million treasury bonds were sold out and directly deposited into the national treasury. , why is the court still short of money?

Fan Chunchuan smiled bitterly and said: "The imperial court did issue five million treasury bonds. However, the two battles of Pingxia City consumed a lot of food and grass. In addition, in the battle of Qingtang in the west, the weapons supervisor made cold-forged armor, cotton A, thunder that shakes the sky, is used by the people to build water conservancy projects, and is used in political reforms in various places..."

Fan Chunchun listed the court expenses one by one, and suddenly the whole court was in an uproar.

There are gains and losses, and war is the most expensive. With the support of five million yuan, the Song Dynasty did win every battle, but it once again depleted the treasury.

"Since ginseng has medicinal value, why not let doctors use it as medicine, which can not only cure diseases and save people, but also implement the ginseng plan." Cai Jing had an ulterior suggestion and wanted to allocate the cost of the ginseng plan to doctors.

The eyes of the New Party officials couldn't help but light up. A thousand-year-old ginseng is worth thousands of dollars, and a century-old ginseng is also worth a lot of money. As a result, the expenditure required is extremely huge. It would be great if a wealthy doctor would pay for it.

"I think this strategy is feasible!" Lu Dafang also took the opportunity to add insult to injury.

At this moment, Zhao Xu couldn't help but look at Fan Zheng expectantly.

Fan Zheng smiled bitterly and said: "I have informed the officials that doctors can purchase ginseng, but they can only purchase ginseng that is less than ten years old. They cannot purchase old wild ginseng from previous years, let alone thousand-year-old ginseng."

"Why is this? If the ginseng of the previous year has better medicinal value, how can doctors not need it?" Cai Jing asked,

The other ministers also frowned. In his opinion, Fan Zheng pushed him away just to save money for the doctors.

Fan Zheng said solemnly: "Because it's fair!"

"fair?"

The ministers couldn't help but be surprised? He looked at Fan Zheng in confusion.

Fan Zheng explained: "The price of ginseng within ten years is the lowest and the yield is the highest, which is enough to meet the medicinal needs of doctors. Doctors can prescribe medicine to supply all patients. However, the older the ginseng is, the rarer it is, so that the thousand-year-old ginseng is even more scarce. It’s hard to find it, everyone is destined to die, and ginseng that is more than a hundred years old is extremely difficult to find, and doctors can only supply it to a few people, so it is better not to use Laoshan ginseng.”

Su Song nodded and said: "That's true. Moreover, century-old ginseng is a medicine that can help you to improve your health and prolong your life. It's expensive and can be afforded by rich people. If it's an ordinary family, I'm afraid if they forcefully use the medicine, they will lose their lives and money. It's not as good as the folk. I purchased a hundred-year-old ginseng myself, so that life and death are determined, and everyone has their destiny."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly. What Fan Zheng said was not unreasonable. People who suffer from scarcity are not equally affected. Ginseng that is more than a hundred years old is already scarce. Who should use it or who should not use it will cause disputes. In this case, the doctor will simply use ten For ginseng under 10 years old, everyone is happy.

However, Zhao Xu frowned again. Now that the court had no money, and doctors would only buy ginseng that was within ten years old, if they wanted to intensify the conflict between the Liao Dynasty and the Jurchens, they would have to keep the price of ginseng at a high level, which would require a lot of money. maintain.

"More than that, since the first issuance of national debt, the credibility is not high. Most of the people bought one-year national debt, which is a full three million bonds. And seeing that this part of the national debt is about to expire, the Ministry of Accounts may be difficult to Cashing out such a huge amount of money in such a short time!" Fan Chunchuan broke another shocking news.

The courtiers were immediately in an uproar. They must know that the national debt is different from Jiaozi and can continue to be printed. The national debt is bound to the credit of the court, and after maturity, it must be paid directly in real money with interest.

If the court breaks the contract, it will definitely cause an uproar. More importantly, once the court is unable to pay the national debt, when the court needs money again in the future, I am afraid that no Song people will be willing to buy the national debt.

Zhao Xu frowned and said, "Can it be that I, the mighty Song Dynasty, can't even raise three million guans?"

Fan Chunli nodded and said: "I do have a way to raise three million yuan of national debt. However, if this happens, the imperial government's plans will probably come to a standstill."

Zhao Xu suddenly fell into a dilemma. It was great when he spent money, but now it is painful to pay back the money. Moreover, once the national debt is paid, many of his plans will not be implemented.

"The credibility of the imperial court comes first, and the veteran believes that the national debt should be paid first!" Lu Dafang said righteously.

The old party had long been dissatisfied with Zhao Xu's various generosity, and now they all agreed, preparing to use the national debt to let Zhao Xu implement expenditure-reduction strategies.

"No! Now the Song Dynasty is booming, even conquering Xixia and Qingtang, and has more methods to deal with the Liao Kingdom. If it is interrupted here, it may ruin the good situation." Zhang Dun retorted directly.

The New Party's views immediately aroused the approval of hundreds of officials. Such a good situation can be said to be unprecedented in the Song Dynasty for a hundred years. If the opportunity is missed, I am afraid the Song Dynasty will regret it.

"I have a side that can ensure the court's credibility and raise enough money for the Song Dynasty to complete your majesty's great achievements." Suddenly a voice sounded in the Chui Gong Hall, and all the ministers couldn't help but look at the evil doctor Fan Zheng. His speaking style and overbearing manner are very similar to Fan Zheng's.

However, when everyone looked around, they found that Fan Zheng remained motionless. Everyone was stunned, and then turned their attention to a minister next to Fan Zheng.

Cai Jing, Minister of Civil Affairs.

"Master Cai, do you have a good prescription?" Zhao Xu couldn't help but asked in surprise.

Cai Jing proudly said: "Your Majesty, the public is extremely enthusiastic about purchasing the national debt this time. It can be seen that the national debt is very popular among the people. As long as the government pays the national debt on time, the credibility of the national debt will definitely be further improved."

The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty nodded one after another. Most of the private wealth was gold, silver and copper coins, which were extremely inconvenient to transport and store, and Jiaozi was at risk of depreciation. Government bonds that were guaranteed by the court's reputation and were directly redeemed with real gold and silver were very popular. Some large merchants even All trade with treasury bonds as principal.

"In this case, why doesn't the imperial court find another five million treasury bonds? No, this time it can issue 7 million treasury bonds. In this way, it can not only ensure that the treasury debts are paid on time, so that the credit of the national debts is worry-free, but also it can raise more funds for the imperial court. More funds." Cai Jing said solemnly.

Zhao Xu's eyes suddenly lit up. In this way, the credibility of the national debt could not only be guaranteed, but the issuance of more national debt would also allow the court to do more things.

The ministers all over the court also nodded, this is indeed a good recipe.

"This is an evil recipe!"

Suddenly another voice echoed through Chui Gong Hall.