New Shun 1730

Waiting for the emperor to finally finish his show of loving and caring for the people, Liao Hanhui was asked to step aside and go to the emperor every day from tomorrow to explain the atlas of Huaihe River governance.

After he left and only Liu Yu was left around, the emperor said the final words.

"I have made up my mind. My dear, I want to enrich my internal funds. Whether it is fighting a war or controlling floods, it is absolutely impossible without money."

Liu Yu quickly said yes, thinking that there were many emperors who could understand this truth, but few could solve it.

"Your Majesty, since you want to control the water, you are obviously determined to abolish the canal. So, on this matter of rice harvesting, is what I say feasible?"

The emperor still nodded, this time without hesitation.

"Just do as you say. You are still prudent in doing things. If you think something can't be done, you won't agree to it."

"I don't need to say anything unnecessary. You know better than anyone how important rice is. I also know that Guangxi, Guangdong and other places have long been eating Nanyang rice. A few million dan a year is just too much. "Young. We are familiar with the Heishuiyang route, so going to the capital is not a problem."

"But I still say the same thing. It is best to invest this money in Nanyang. Invest it in places that China can control by garrisoning troops."

"Even if there are Myanmar and Siam, they are just pretending to pay tribute after all. You also said that they deceive the superiors and deceive each other. The credentials of Siam and other countries were polished by officials and then turned into tributes."

"It would be best if this rice-producing land is like Jiangnan, in a place that the country and the dynasty can absolutely control."

"I think buying is not as good as taxing, and taxing is not as good as cultivating."

Liu Yu secretly laughed secretly, and the emperor added: "Since Duke Qi has sent a letter from the Netherlands, the affairs of the Netherlands are already 80% complete. I think you should go to Songjiang quickly to prepare for the delivery of goods to the Netherlands. It is already ten days. If you miss the wind season, you have to wait another year.”

"You can afford to wait, but I can't afford to wait for my money. This year is private lending to earn interest, and how much is it? And I am really short of money now. There are things like water management and canal work. I can't say much about next year. You need to prepare 20 million taels, even if you can borrow it from the Netherlands..."

Speaking of this, the emperor couldn't help laughing.

"I have spent money smoothly these years, but I always feel flustered just because I don't have thousands of taels in my bank account. It's not because I am greedy for money, these thousands of miles of land are mine. But, you have been outside for a long time, hiding from the government. How do you know what it means to spend money like water? The little money the government and Taicang have, if I hadn’t subsidized it from my own funds, it would have bottomed out a long time ago.”

"Over the years, the stalls have become too big, and there is no turning back. All kinds of stalls have been opened in the northeast, southwest and southwest of the Western Region."

"Now that we've spread it out, we can't look back. If we look back now, all the 180,000 taels of silver we invested in the Western Regions will be wasted."

Liu Yu thought to himself that this is exactly the effect I want. In the past few years, you have spent money well and your stall has grown, but you don’t dare to cut off the capital chain easily.

Moreover, stalls like the one in the Southwest of the Western Regions cannot deplete industry and commerce. This is a long-term investment process.

This just happened to force the emperor not to kill the goose to obtain the eggs.

There are many people holding big bowls and eating big meals. The emperor actually broke through the small farmer's way of thinking and agreed to borrow money. This was a very important step for the emperor.

If you kill the goose to obtain the eggs, the emperor also knows that he can make tens of millions of taels in one go.

But the income from trade from Mongolia to Japan and then to the West in the past twenty years was more than tens of millions of taels. The emperor could still tell what was light and what was serious.

Of course, for businessmen, as long as the emperor's head cannot be pressed on the table, they will not be at ease. The possibility of killing the goose to obtain the eggs is always there.

However, for the emperor, judging from the current situation, even if he had to kill the goose to retrieve the eggs, it was time to see that the world was about to be completely destroyed, and he had to fight to the death.

There’s really no need to worry about it for the time being.

The emperor would definitely go to the salt merchant to get money, but this had nothing to do with Liu Yu's worries. Salt merchants are similar to tax collectors in Western countries, so let's take advantage of them.

Now the emperor was also anxious about the Dutch trade and a batch of goods purchased with his own funds that were packed in the original VOC warehouse, so he asked Liu Yu to go to Songjiang quickly.

Liu Yu thought for a moment and asked: "Your Majesty...is this the tithe tax in Songjiang Mansion?"

The emperor hesitated for a moment and said: "On a trial basis. I will select some young people to do this. Measuring the acres and checking the land can be regarded as practicing and getting familiar with it in advance."

Liu Yu felt at ease. If he meant to get familiar with it in advance, he meant that he was really preparing to trial tax reform in Lianghuai and Jiangnan after the Huaihe River regulation.

If you think about it carefully, from the emperor's perspective, this is indeed a good opportunity.

Anyway, we will be scolded for abolishing the canal and using sea transport; we will also be scolded for tax reform.

It's all done anyway, why not get two scoldings together. As long as the control of the Huaihe River is successful, everything will be suppressed. If you fail to regulate the Huai River, there is no difference between being scolded twice or scolded once.

"Since your Majesty has your orders, I will retire now, go back and tidy up, and then go to Songjiang."

The emperor wanted to say something else, or looking at the rushing river and this scene, he couldn't help but want to express some of the things in his heart, but in the end he just said yes, indicating that Liu Yu could leave.

After Liu Yu left, the emperor stood alone on the river embankment, staring at the river in silence.

It wasn't until it was almost dark that the attendants bravely came over and put the emperor's cloak on him.

"Your Majesty, it's getting cold today, so you'd better go back to the palace and rest early. Although it's warm in the south of the Yangtze River, the wind in early winter and late autumn is even colder than in the capital."

The emperor did not respond, but wrapped himself in a large cloak and continued to stand by the river in a daze.

…………

Liu Yu returned to his residence, and Tian Zhenyi had just returned from the queen's stay.

The two talked about what happened during the day, and Tian Zhenyi just laughed there.

After laughing for a long time, he said: "The third brother was pulled, but it was for nothing. The third brother did not advocate for the abolition of the canal. When the Jiangsu Jiedu Envoy submitted a letter, the third brother did not say anything."

"But the fact that the canal was finally completed was not due to the third brother's troubles with the navy? Everyone else is keeping these accounts in mind."

"There is also the matter that His Majesty wants to reform the tax system... I remember that more than ten years ago, when the third brother was making nonsense in the court, he also said something similar, right? He said that he would directly parachute some people from the capital to the place to conduct an investigation. "

"You just pretend that others have forgotten, but how can you actually forget? When the time comes, the old and new accounts will be settled together."

Liu Yuze already had the mentality of a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water. He laughed and said: "It's up to him. When it comes time to calculate, we will have run away."

"As for deliberately cheating me, or creating obstacles or stumbling blocks. I don't want to play with them in China at all, whether it's buying rice or trading. If they really have the ability to influence Nanyang and the Amsterdam market, it would be fine. ”

"The ability to make trouble in secret can only be achieved by anyone in the nest. If you really have the ability to make trouble for me in Southeast Asia and Europe, I will directly learn from the Marquis of Liu and follow Chi Songzi tomorrow. I already have this ability, and I can't do it. What's there to worry about?"

"Even if you are brave enough to find someone pretending to be a pirate to rob a shipping ship... don't ask, even Sulu, which is called the Algiers of the East by Westerners, dare to raise the pirate flag in front of me?"

"They are a bunch of trash in their nest. They go out to sea and fool even the Ryukyu people like fools. As long as I stay away from the court, I won't look at them at all."

"By the way, I'm going to Songjiang now, and I'm going to Nanyang in a while. Do you want to go and see the volcano scenery?"

Tian Zhenyi imagined the scenery of the volcano and felt a little yearning for it, but she still shook her head and said: "We can't go for the time being. The queen will go to burn incense in a few days, from Tianning Temple in Yangzhou Prefecture to Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou Prefecture. Those of us who are accompanying All the decrees will follow.”

"I have been trapped in the capital before, so I finally came to Jiangnan to have a look. Although it is not the time when spring comes and the river is as green as blue, it still has a unique flavor. It would be good to take a look."

"Move over slowly, I'm afraid the windy season has passed. Since you said that the emperor is short of money, he must stay in Yangzhou for a long time, waiting for the salt merchants to show their respect. How can it be like being in Mount Tai, not even offering sacrifices to the prince's mansion? Go, go straight south.”

Liu Yu smiled, thinking that because of the ban on religion, this style was transferred from the monk temple to the Taoist temple. If there was no ban on religion, would he still have to offer incense to the Virgin?

"I definitely can't go to worship the Marquis Mansion. If I go, do I want to take off the plaque that says 'Wei Guanzhong, Wu Qi's hair is left in the left fold'? As long as you don't take it off, just leave it there and embarrass each other."

"That's fine, you can just go along. The queen is going to smoke incense, and most likely she also wants to see the scenery. It's hard for a woman who is trapped in the palace to go out, so I guess she won't miss out on having fun."

"The emperor must be going to Songjiang Mansion, and I guess I should be back by then. He is not allowed to go see the businessmen in Songjiang Mansion. What is the situation? Is it under his control?"

"Or, since I just received money from the salt merchants, don't I have to come to Songjiang Mansion to express my position and tell those merchants not to worry?"

"Without further delay, I will leave early tomorrow morning. There are a lot of things to deal with over there. I thought if you could go together, you could help with some of the things. Zhongxian is still in Amsterdam, and there are some things that I still have to do. You can’t give any ideas.”

"But, fortunately, what I have to deal with for the time being are some overseas matters. I have to finish the Nanyang matter before the first month of the year. I will be back."

Seeing Liu Yu's cheerful expression, Tian Zhenyi originally wanted to remind you, "Of course they can't stumbling blocks for you overseas, but the management of the Huaihe River can affect the whole body. They will give you stumbling blocks when it comes to regulating the Huaihe River and the Yellow River." But it’s also easy.”

But seeing this attitude, he didn't want to spoil Liu Yu's rare interest, so he didn't say anything.

Feeling that they needed to be separated for a while, they picked up some words that Liu Yu liked to hear and coaxed him: "Third brother, speaking of it, there are some changes that are really beneficial. It's really interesting when you think about it carefully."

"The Nanyang is thousands of miles away. Twenty years ago, if anyone went to the Nanyang, they would only think that they would escape death. Now I don't know if you have gone there more, or you have even gone to Europe in recent years. I don't have any worries at all. I just feel It seems that there is no difference between going from the capital to Jiangnan.”

"Not to mention me, even those ladies know a lot about Nanyang now, and it doesn't feel like it's tens of thousands of miles away like before."

"Some people even think that if their nephews want to gain experience, they would rather go to Nanyang than the Western Regions. Before this, it was the other way around."

I didn't say anything to offend the scenery, knowing what he liked in his heart. I just deliberately coaxed him a few words, and then he got to the point where he was tickled, and his smile became even bigger.