Nine thousand years old [rebirth]

After the Empress Dowager Yu took a rest with the decoction, Yin Chengyu and Xue Shu said goodbye and left.

Yin Chengyu walked in front, and Xue Shu followed behind him half a step behind at first.But as they walked, the two became walking side by side, and the distance between them was obviously beyond the moment, almost arm to arm.Yin Chengyu could even feel the slightly hot skin under the cool fabric.

He squinted at the other party, and saw Xue Shu was looking at him with his head tilted, his eyes were hot like boiling water, with a strong aggressiveness.It's just that he restrained himself from being too out of line just now because of the hindrance of the relying team.

The corner of Yin Chengyu's mouth twitched.

Xue Shu noticed the corners of his raised lips, and narrowed his long and narrow eyes.When passing through Jingyun Gate, he turned his head and said to the guard of honor, "You are here", and followed Yin Chengyu through Jingyun Gate alone.

Jingyun Gate is in the southwest of Fengxian Hall, and it is connected to the square in front of Qianqing Gate.There are imperial guards on duty everywhere in the square, but they are so far apart that they cannot be seen clearly.Relying on this point, Xue Shu strode forward and trapped the man between the pillars and the chest of Chaoshou verandah.

Yin Chengyu seemed to have expected it a long time ago, so he was not surprised, and only raised his eyebrows to look at him.

Xue Shu lowered his head, his hot lips seemed to fall on his cheeks and corners of his lips, as if he was treating a precious treasure, he was not willing to swallow it immediately, and first tasted it tentatively.

"I'm so happy..." He murmured in a low voice, "I've never been so happy."

Along the corners of the lips, finally cover the two beautifully shaped and plump lips, and feel the lips.He was not in a hurry to plunder the touch of the petals touching each other, but gently stroked it, described its shape, and felt its temperature.

It was a throbbing that was completely different from the siege.

Yin Chengyu breathed a little faster, pressed his shoulder and reprimanded him "presumptuous", but he didn't seem too angry.

Xue Shu really "presumptuously" bit his lips.

I didn't use too much force, and it didn't make people feel painful, but there was a sense of dissatisfaction that was nowhere near itching.

Yin Chengyu's Adam's apple twitched, he looked at him for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you tell me that your mother summoned you?"

"The Queen Mother didn't make things difficult for me." Xue Shu responded vaguely by sticking to his lips.

"When you're in front of the queen mother, you're really cute." Yin Chengyu turned his face sideways and tried to distance himself from him, and his lips rubbed against him, causing a feeling of numbness.

Xue Shu didn't answer, but chased after him, wanting to kiss.

Yin Chengyu didn't avoid this time, interlaced the tip of his nose with him, exchanged a shallow kiss, and just whispered in his ear: "There is no priority between you and the queen mother." Woke up thinking carefully, slender jade-like fingers passed over his side face, and touched his ears: "You are all my relatives, understand?"

Xue Shu saw himself in those beautiful eyes.

only myself.

The joy that had been suppressed in the bottom of his heart when he was in Renshou Palace burst out in an instant. He suddenly clasped the back of Yin Chengyu's head forcefully, kissed him regardless, and tried his best to express his joy.

Yin Chengyu was infected by his emotions, gradually lost in the violent panting.Breathing and fierce kissing.

Behind the Jingyun Gate, which is only separated by a wall, the guard of honor is still in place.And on the Qianqingmen Square in the distance, there were patrolling guards passing by, and the sound of orderly footsteps could be vaguely heard.Under the cover of the colonnade, the two were entangled like vines, their breath blended together, their bodies were infinitely close, and they wished they could squeeze into each other's body.

Warm.The ignorance is transpiring around, and it is sucked into the internal organs, and the young body is filled with the desire for each other.

Before Xue Shu knelt down, Yin Chengyu stopped him with his remaining rationality.

The corners of Xue Shu's eyes were bloodshot, blue meridians appeared on the side of his neck, and his voice was difficult: "No one will come."

Yin Chengyu regained his sanity a little bit, kicked his calf lightly, and said in a hoarse voice, "You are shameless, I want more."

Seeing that he refused, Xue Shu was in a stalemate for a moment, but regretted giving up. After adjusting his breath, he smoothed the wrinkles on the dragon robe for him.

Yin Chengyu suppressed his untimely thoughts, calmed down a little, and then called the guard of honor to follow, and returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Since the Longevity Festival, no one in the court has mentioned the matter of accepting concubines.On the other hand, there are some wives who are unwilling to give up. When they entered the palace to talk with Queen Mother Yu, they mentioned it on the sidelines, but they were all blocked back by Queen Mother Yu.

The emperor didn't care about it, but the queen mother didn't care, so everyone took a break for a while and made Yin Chengyu feel comfortable for a few days.

But the good times didn’t last long. At the end of June, news of disasters came from Shandong and other places—the Grand Canal burst, flooding the towns and villages along the river.

The Grand Canal runs through the north and the south, making the north-south transportation faster and more convenient, and the state capital also benefits a lot.But the disadvantages are also very obvious-the Grand Canal has been open for many years, and the river sand in the upper reaches has gradually deposited to the middle and lower reaches, raising the river bed.Every year, the imperial court needs to spend a large amount of silver and requisition a large number of river workers to clean it up.

If it is not cleaned up in time or if there is a big flood, it may break or divert, causing floods.

Dayan experienced the extravagance of the emperors of the two dynasties, and there were many natural and man-made disasters. The treasury was empty and could not make ends meet.The first emperor didn't pay much attention to the management of the canal, and he didn't want to allocate too much silver.It was delayed until this year when there was a severe flood, and the canal burst again.People, animals, houses, etc. were all destroyed, and had to be relocated in large numbers.

The disaster situation was reported to Beijing, and the courtiers disagreed on how to provide disaster relief.Headed by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households, it was divided into two factions, which were in dispute.

Now the two Ministers of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs are both newly promoted capable ministers. Both of them are people who handle affairs, their waists are straight, and their mouths are sharper than the other.

The Ministry of Industry naturally advocated the management of the canal. The benefits brought by the unimpeded canal are long-lasting. If the canal is allowed to silt up, wouldn't all the efforts made in the past be in vain?

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry stomped his feet in anger, and cursed at the Minister of the Ministry of Households unceremoniously: "The smooth flow of the canal is beneficial to the country and the people. The people in the river can't move, so what should they do?"

The Minister of the Household Department also had a bad face, and refused to give an inch: "Can I know how important the canal is? But the treasury has no money! It takes money to resettle the victims! It also needs money to manage the canal! They all ask me for money, but there is only so much money." , can't you come in a hurry?!"

The two parties were arguing fiercely in the Huangji Hall, and each side had its own reasons. If it wasn't for being pulled, they would have fought on the spot.

In fact, the number of natural disasters and man-made disasters encountered this year is considered to be less, but the treasury cannot support the treasury and there is no money, and whether it is to repair the canal or resettle the victims, a large amount of silver is needed.

But the Ministry of Accounts has no money at all right now.

Yin Chengyu was dizzy from the quarrel, so he could only stop the court and discuss again.

After coming down to court, instead of summoning the two Ministers of the Ministry of Household Industry who wanted to come to seek support, he called Xie Yunchuan into the palace to discuss matters.

Xie Yunchuan was led by Xue Shu to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and he wanted to chat with him habitually, but he found that today's Governor Xue seems to be extremely indifferent, with a straight face, he looks very difficult to get along with, and only responds once or twice Words such as "um" and "oh" are completely different from before.

He suspected that he had offended the other party at some point, and he had already regarded Xue Shu as a friend, so he didn't want any misunderstanding between the two of them, so he asked, "How did I offend the governor?"

Xue Shu glanced at him: "No."

Xie Yunchuan was confused: "Then why...?"

"My family sees that our family is too familiar with Mr. Xie, and they are very pleased." Xue Shu put his hands in his hands, raised his chin slightly, and said unhurriedly: "Our family must avoid suspicion."

Xie Yunchuan slowly opened his mouth wide.

I really want to ask you a eunuch, where are the family members?

But that was so offensive that he wisely stopped trying to strike up a conversation.

But I still can't help thinking that most of the people who can see him interacting with Xue Shu are also from the palace.But isn't it forbidden to eat in pairs in the palace?Who could Xue Shu's family members be?

He pondered all the way, until he saw the emperor, he stopped the speculation in his heart, and saluted solemnly to say hello.

Yin Chengyu raised his hand to let him sit down, and then talked to him about today's disputes in court.

From a long-term point of view, Xie Yunchuan also supported the management of the canal, but after he entered the court to observe the government, he also understood the difficulties of the Minister of the Household, and sighed: "It is really difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice."

Yin Chengyu didn't speak, but pushed a few account books in front of him: "Look at this again."

Xie Yunchuan took it and flipped through it. At first, his expression was relaxed, but after reading several books in succession, his expression became serious.

——What Yin Chengyu showed him was the aggregated total revenue and expenditure account books over the years submitted by the household department.The majority of the treasury's income depends on land taxes, followed by military settlements and salt taxes.In addition, other taxes such as commercial tax are pitifully small.Most of the income of the entire Dayan treasury depends on land taxes, but in recent years, Dayan's natural and man-made disasters have continued, resulting in a decrease in farm income.Not to mention that a large number of officials and gentry were exempted from land taxes, and many farmers put their land under the names of officials and gentry in order to avoid taxes. Over time, the income from land taxes gradually decreased.

Looking at expenditures again, military expenditures and salary expenditures are both big. Last year alone, military expenditures reached 390 million taels, and salary expenditures reached 2503 million taels.But this is still a normal expenditure, Xie Yunchuan looked at the last clan expenditure, his brows were knotted.

Just to support the clan vassal, the expenditure has already reached as high as 210 million taels!

"But what did you find out?" Yin Chengyu asked him after clicking on those account books.

"There are too many questions, no wonder the Minister of the Household Department almost got into a fight with the Minister of the Ministry of Industry in the Huangji Palace." Xie Yunchuan said honestly.

It is really no wonder that the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the treasury has more outflows and less inflows, and the accounts have become a mess.If he hadn't read the account books, who would have thought that more than 200 million taels of snowflake silver would flow out a year just to support the clan and vassal kings in the fief?

Today's system of supporting vassal kings was inherited from Gaozu's time, and then perfected by successive emperors.In order to prevent the local vassal kings from causing chaos, Gao Zu tried his best to weaken the power of the vassal kings. He stipulated that the vassal kings were not allowed to interfere in local government affairs, raise soldiers, let alone take half a step from the fiefdom, and only supported the feudal kings on the fiefdom with high salaries.The vassal kings are hereditary, so they have been inherited from generation to generation, and more and more vassal kings are entrusted, and the annual salary is getting higher and higher.

Up to now, 200 million taels of silver has to be filled in a year.

If these money can be saved, how many practical things can be done?

"To solve the urgent needs of the national treasury, first, we need to increase revenue, and second, we need to reduce expenditure. The business is responsible for increasing revenue, and the peasants have been very difficult due to natural disasters for many years. The land tax can only be reduced but not increased. But business taxes can do a lot. The reduction of expenditure is in the clan, and the children of the clan Hundreds of thousands of people are raised on the fief for nothing, which is a waste of people and money."

Yin Chengyu had already had these ideas in his previous life, but Dayan's situation was even worse at that time, and many of them hadn't had time to be implemented.

Xie Yunchuan's heart skipped a beat: "Your Majesty means...?"

Yin Chengyu nodded slightly to confirm his guess: "What I think, it must be very difficult to implement. The old officials in the court may be pedantic or have their own positions, and they may not really support them. These things can only be done by relying on you. A young official with vigor and no conflict of interest."

This is the purpose of Yin Chengyu calling Xie Yunchuan into the palace today.

The national treasury is in a hurry, and he has to find a way to get money.The best ones to attack now are naturally those clan vassals who have land and money.It's just that everything is difficult at the beginning, these vassal kings are used to being raised by high salaries and waiting to die, if they touch them rashly, they will definitely be hindered.

But no matter how difficult it is, someone has to do it.

Xie Yunchuan understood his meaning, stood up and bowed, and said in a deep voice: "I would like to be your Majesty's pawn."