Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 137 Budget Expenditures

Yang Ming promised to reward Du Ruhui as a concubine, but he didn't just talk about it.

And he can be sure that this kid is no longer a virgin, he is 16 years old, and he was born in such a family, it is impossible for him not to taste the taste of a woman.

The maids in the inner garden were all managed by Yang Yinjiang, so Yang Ming asked her to pick out a maid named Ruhua who was more beautiful, and rewarded it to Du Ruhui.

The maid can only provide the services she can provide, and it is impossible to have any communication with Du Ruhui who has read the sage books spiritually.

And Yang Ming's reward was not to spy on the other party. Du Ruhui was already under his nose, so there was nothing to watch.

In Yang Yinjiang's view, servants are not allowed to read, even if you let them read, they have no interest in it in their bones.

Just like the rulers of feudal dynasties, they don't want to see the common people read books. If they know too much, it will be difficult to manage.

Next, Yang Ming will prepare a congratulatory gift for his sister Yang Chan.

It was less than a month before October, and it would be too late if he didn't prepare, and it was impossible for him to be called back to Beijing just because Yang Chan got married.

However, Yang Ming thinks that their marriage should not be in October, after all, he has not received the notice from his parents.

What can I send?Yang Ming actually wanted to prepare some unusual gifts, but after thinking about it, he couldn't find such a thing.

And the congratulatory gift he gave should not be too much, because he is a younger brother, not an older brother.

The ones who really need to prepare generous gifts are the eldest brother Yang Zhao and the second child Yang Hao.

He's not yet an adult, so just mean it.

Yang Ming brought Yang Yinjiang to the warehouse and asked her to help with the selection. Women know women best.

Naturally, gold, silver and jade wares were nothing to worry about. Whoever Yang Yinjiang pointed at, someone would carefully wrap up whichever piece. Not long after, a corner of the warehouse was emptied.

Then, Yang Yinjiang selected six thousand pieces of fine brocade, four thousand pieces of silk, two hundred horses, and five thousand stones of rice.

This is the case with gift giving in the Sui Dynasty, basically choosing from "basic clothing, food, housing and transportation", other than that, there is really nothing to give.

Half a month later, Yang Ming received a letter from his mother and concubine Xiao, stating that his elder sister Yang Chan would marry Pei Xuanji of Hedong, and the date was set on November 26.

Yang Ming hurriedly ordered the congratulatory convoy to go north to deliver the things before the wedding date.

Yang Ming got married when Yang Chan got married, and Yang Ming finally settled a concern, but there was another thing in the letter from his eldest brother Yang Zhao, which made Yang Ming very upset.

Yuwen Ergou, who was originally dispatched to the frontier as a guard, came back and became his father's backup.

This is something that can't be helped, Yu Wenshu is the father's confidant, and the father is now the prince, Sangou has a bright future.

Surprisingly, Jian Jiancheng also wrote a letter to Yang Ming, and the letter was quite ostentatious, saying that Shimin was disobedient and was beaten up by him fatly, although he was beaten up by fat Li Yuan afterwards , but Shimin is quite afraid of him now, and has been courting him.

Children are like this, the more scared they are, the more they will try to please them.

Yang Ming replied to Jiancheng with three words, "Well done", as an encouragement.

On this day, Du Ruhui came to Yang Ming with a stack of files in his hand.
"There's something wrong with the acres in Baling County."

After Yang Ming asked him to sit down, he smiled and said, "Speak slowly."

Du Ruhui is now the general manager of household Cao, in charge of farming and mulberry affairs in the Jingzhou area, so the field mu is within his scope of functions.

He nodded and said: "There are [-] acres of open fields registered in Baling County, of which [-] acres are public land, and [-] acres of land that needs to be taxed every year is paid in full. of."

Yang Ming was stunned and said, "Then where did the problem come from?"

Du Ruhui said: "I checked, and the actual taxable land in Baling County is only [-] Qing, that is to say, the [-] Qing people paid [-] Qing in taxes, and the other [-] Qing is taxed. gone?"

Yang Ming's face darkened instantly, and he understood Du Ruhui's meaning.

It's not that he doesn't know about the issue of acres of land in various parts of Jingzhou. The common people hardly have enough land in their hands, and some of them are due to geographical problems.

For example, counties and counties located in the northern mountains have a large population but few acres of land, so they are not enough to distribute.

But Baling County is a large grain-producing county, with Honghu Lake in it, it can be called a land of fish and rice, and the fields are definitely enough. Said, I have to pay taxes for you, and still pay three to seven, which is too much.

You guys impose taxes so frankly, once the public anger is aroused, how will I explain to my superiors?

"Investigate! Take someone to investigate yourself. First, check the total amount of land in Baling County, and then check where these fields belong. No matter who is involved, you must find out for me."

Du Ruhui was stunned on the spot.

Originally, he thought that Yang Ming's first step should be to call Baling prefect Gao Xuan to inquire, and then make a decision, but he didn't expect Yang Ming to ask him to investigate directly, obviously not giving Gao Zhen any face.

Although Yang Ming's instructions said that no matter who is involved, they must be investigated, but Du Ruhui still doesn't understand how big this scale should be.

Can the government's public land be checked?How should the family investigate?
So Du Ruhui asked cautiously: "Do you have to check from top to bottom?"

Yang Ming frowned suddenly: "Don't you understand what I said?"

"Your servant understands," Du Ruhui hurriedly nodded, taking a reassurance in his heart.

It is the clan that has such great courage. If it were someone else, they would save some face for the prefect of a county. After all, if they can achieve this position, how could there be no one behind them.

If you don't give face to the county guard, you still have to give some face to the people behind.

Just check it out, anyway, if something happens, you will stand up for me.

The next day, Du Ruhui took the approval document from Yuan Wendu and went to Baling County with two hundred guards from the General Manager's Mansion.

He still doesn't know that his departure will create a big mess for Yang Ming.

Time flies, and it's almost the end of the year.

The state and county government offices are about to start to calculate the general ledger. The total amount of taxes collected this year will be sealed and put into the warehouse at the end of the year.

Then these local officials will come to Jiangling to discuss next year's expenditure with Yang Ming.

Expenses are about discussing how to spend money.

The money of each government treasury is there, who is not jealous, and who does not want to find a few more projects, so that more funds can be approved.

These are all reported by Yang Ming, and then the Ministry of Households audits and submits to the imperial court. The approved funds will be covered with red, and those that are not approved will be sealed up in the treasury and sealed. life.

There are two state treasuries in the Jingzhou area, one in Jiangling County and the other in Jiangxia County. The person in charge of guarding the state treasury is the local commissioner sent by the Taifu Temple. Yang Ming can't control them.

On December 22, all [-] chief officials from the Jingzhou area arrived in Jiangling County, waiting for Yang Ming to summon them.

The servants of the general manager's mansion worked hard all day, preparing food, wine and meat, and placed pens, inks, papers and inkstones in front of each chief official's table.

Early the next morning, 22 people entered the back hall of the General Manager's Mansion and began to discuss matters.

First of all, Yang Xuangan, after listening to him state the tax accounts of the Jiangxia (Ezhou) area one by one, said:

"Next year in Ezhou, apart from the daily expenses, there will only be two major expenses. One is that the Jiangxia Wharf needs to be repaired, and ten more official ships will need to be added. This item will cost about 23 yuan, and the other item will be the need for further repairs in the city. A Buddhist temple, which was assigned by Taichang Temple, cost 28 guan, and there is no other expenses other than that."

Don't worry, if everyone is as worry-free as you, that's fine.

Yang Ming nodded, and looked at Yuan Wendu on the side:
"record on file."

Yang Ming deliberately chose Yang Xuangan to be the first to report expenses, just to let the other party get a head start, because he knew that Yang Xuangan was not interested in money, so the amount of expenses compiled would not be much.

Those who speak later will be a little bit jealous, and erase those things that have been prepared and sound like they shouldn't be spending money.

At this time, Yang Ming looked at Murong Sanzang again, and asked, "How is the situation in Jiangling County?"

Murong Sanzang was working under Yang Ming's nose, so naturally he didn't dare to make random reports. After explaining the tax situation this year, he said:
"Jingzhou Wharf also needs to be repaired and maintained, costing about 23 yuan."

Originally, in the copy he had prepared, this item cost 25 guan, but when he heard that Yang Xuangan increased the official ship, it would only cost 23, so he quickly revised it and reduced it by [-] guan.

Yang Ming nodded, motioning for the other party to continue.

Murong Sanzang said: "This year's treasury is abundant, and the Jiasheng warehouse in the north of the city is almost full, so it is necessary to build an additional warehouse, which costs about 30 guan. There is a flood in Changlin County, and a relief fund of 28 guan is needed. There are also three counties. The embankment needs to be strengthened, and it will cost [-] guan.”

Yang Ming felt dizzy when he heard that.

Who said that governing a big country is like cooking small fish?Obviously raises blood pressure.

The amount listed by Murong Sanzang, in addition to offsetting all taxes in Jiangling County this year, also left a shortfall of 48 guan.

But there is no way, the problems mentioned by the other party are real, and they really need to spend money.

After all, Jiangling County is the capital of Jingzhou, and there are too many places to spend money. These deficits can only be made up from other counties.

Next, Yang Ming asked Du Zha from Xiangyang County to speak,

Yang Ming strained his heart, and after listening to the other party's narration, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It is true that Xiangyang relies on the benefits of the Han River. This year, it collected a lot of taxes for water transport, and apart from building embankments and canals to irrigate the fields, there were not many major expenses. The total cost was only 68 guan. The annual expenditure will probably have a surplus of 170 million guan.

Very good, we can make up for the deficit of Jiangling County.

But Yang Ming knew, don't be too happy too early, only three of the 22 chief officers have passed.

Next, Yang Ming called the names one by one and asked them to report their expenses.

This discussion continued until late at night.

"Okay, okay, everyone, go back to the official post to rest, and discuss it tomorrow,"

Yang Ming dragged his exhausted body back to the inner garden, and someone called Yang Yinjiang directly.

In the house, Yang Ming changed his clothes and went to the couch under the service of Nuan Dong Liang Xia, allowing the two of them to massage his tired body one by one.

Yang Yinjiang sat aside and said with a smile: "How is it? Isn't it very annoying?"

"The head is as big as an ox," Yang Ming lay on the bed, and said with a wry smile, "These bastards are more capable of spending money than each other. They even dare to ask for [-] guan to repair the city gate. Why don't they go and grab it?"

Yang Yinjiang waved her hand, signaling Nuan Dong Liang Xia to step back, then she took off her boots and knelt on the couch, gently beating Yang Ming's back:
"Take your time. This is a process of bargaining. As much as they want, do you really want to grant them? They are testing you now, to see if you can fool me."

Yang Ming said: "Then according to your words, what should I do?"

Yang Yinjiang thought for a while: "Regardless of whether it is reasonable or not, all of them should be halved, and let them figure out a way for themselves. A piece of cake can be used as a meal, and it can also be used as a day's ration."

Yang Ming smiled and shook his neck: "Come down."

Yang Yinjiang smiled sweetly, changed her sitting position, and tapped Yang Ming's waist.

(End of this chapter)