Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 161 Reasons to spend money

Boye ordered the situation to return to normal until the storm was over. Lu Mou believed that it was necessary to stop allocating taxes to the people, but the money collected legally for service had to be spent.

According to regulations, the service money cannot be used for other purposes, and there are still more than two million yuan left. It can't be accumulated like the way the Ministry of Finance used to store money.

Only when money is spent can its currency properties be highlighted. If you don't spend it, it's just a pile of useless metal. Even a kitchen knife won't cut it. It's just waste.

Fortunately, Lu Mou was confident in his means of making money, but he was even more confident in his means of spending money.

For this reason, the teachers and students of the Ministry of Finance have started a happy mode of spending money. In Jiying Palace, Lu Mou spent money reasonably and legally, and explained his reasons to the officials.

"Now, we have opened a port in Dezhou with Liu Fangliang from Shandong, and the trade between the two parties is booming. But let's not go into the details. I know that Dezhou's braised chicken is a delicacy in the world. In order to help my father recover as soon as possible, he can eat delicious, hot and nutritious food. With rich Dezhou braised chicken, I, the regent, have decided to recruit people during this summer’s slack season to build a galloping road from Dezhou to Beijing, and then from Beijing to Sihaiwei.”

As soon as this decision came out, the officials covered their mouths and snickered. This reason is too far-fetched. If the Emperor really eats braised chicken and recovers as soon as possible, then forget it. It would be best to remain ill in order to be in line with the wishes of the ministers.

Now, the actual emperor oversees the country and is generous but steady. The standing emperor and regent acted resolutely but not harshly, while the supreme emperor looked on with cold eyes and gave some advice. What a harmonious situation it was. Your Majesty, please don’t eat braised chicken.

Jian Guo smiled and said: "Why do you want your father to eat the plump, juicy and hot Texas Braised Chicken? I think you are greedy." After saying that, he was still very unimpressed, so he wiped the corners of his mouth first. .

So, all the ministers in the palace made a common move, wiping their mouths.

Liu Zongyi stood up and refuted with a longing face: "This excuse is not valid. The cabinet refuses to allocate funds. Let's find another one."

If you deny this excuse but don't deny this project, you are still not greedy for braised chicken. I despise your insincere words.

"Then I will change the topic and use another excuse."

Then Lu Mou hung up a huge map in the main hall again. This time it was much better than the original map with thick lines.

So, Li Yan, who was used to it, naturally walked to the map and stood next to Lu Mou.

The ministers knew that the double act cross talk had officially begun.

Everyone cheered and turned to the two of them.

First of all, Li Yan opened his mouth. Today it is Li Yan who is the teaser.

"First of all, we have to understand what our war strategy is. Suppress the rogue bandits, fight for us to attack the Manchus, and then turn around and face the rogue bandits, right?"

Lu Mou interfaced: "Now, Li Chuang is forced to go south, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been severely damaged, and our temporary westward march has been hindered."

Li Yan said: "So, we cannot advance westward. After this autumn, we will take action against Liu Fangliang's Shandong."

"Yes, we can't let the army idle, otherwise something will go wrong."

"And Dezhou is a sharp sword in the center of Shandong. Capture Dezhou and follow the trend to Jinan. In order for us to quickly mobilize troops and generals, and for us to quickly transport materials, it is necessary to build a straight road from Beijing to Dezhou. It is imperative and cannot be delayed.”

Supervising the country, the first and second assistants nodded: "This is a high-level reason and can be implemented, but why did you build a straight road from Beijing to the Great Wall Pass and the Four Passes? You have to give us a reasonable reason."

Then Li Yan and Lu Mou swapped positions smoothly, Lu Mou became the funny one, and Li Yan became the admirable one.

"It's about spending money."

As soon as this reason came out, the whole place was in an uproar. This reason must be too crude.

Li Yan smiled: "The Regent is right. As for where it is right, I don't know. Let's ask the Regent to explain."

Lu Mou smiled and pressed his hands: "Everyone, listen to my explanation."

Everyone immediately listened attentively.

"Everyone, what is the nature of money?"

When everyone looks confused, everyone spends money. No one has ever discussed the nature of money.

Li Yan asked: "The regent can help us clear up our doubts." "Money is a flowing thing. Only when it flows, that is to say, it is called money only when it is spent. What is buried underground is accumulated in the so-called treasury of the household department. , that’s scrap metal, not even as good as scrap metal. People’s scrap metal can also be used to make kitchen knives, make delicacies, or kill people and steal goods.”

Li Yan clapped his hands: "What the regent said makes sense. Good advice."

"Last year, we collected the people's labor money. The labor money must not be used for other purposes."

"Absolutely not."

Everyone is so angry, Li Yan, are you poor or not?

"But when we collect labor service money from the people, the people don't see the effect of the labor service money. This will make the people think that our payment is unnecessary, and they will not actively pay it in the future."

"That's right. Who is willing to give their hard-earned money to others for free?"

"Therefore, we must spend this year's labor service money so that the people can see its role. This is called taking from the people and using it for the people."

"It has to be spent."

The supervisor couldn't stand it any longer, so he smiled directly and said to Li Yan: "Li Aiqing, are you tired? Come down and let the regent speak for himself."

Amid everyone's laughter, Li Yan stepped down from the stage and stood at the lecture's seat.

Lu Mou continued: "Spend the service money in a reasonable manner. The key is to settle matters when they are due."

Supervisor Zhu Cixiang frowned: "Third brother, large-scale construction projects waste people and money. This is a taboo thing in every dynasty. It will arouse people's anger, so it is better to do less."

Lu Mou looked disdainful: "They are building large-scale construction projects for their own enjoyment. They cannot benefit the people. They are forcing the people. Of course, they will make the world angry and resentful. My brother understands the lesson of losing a country for this reason. But we are different. .”

"What's the difference?"

"First of all, we are not building a palace for our royal family, or some kind of building to celebrate the success. We are building the straight road for the convenience of people's travel. We are doing things for the people. How can the people complain."

Zhu Cixiang nodded: "Things that benefit the people should be done."

"Also, we are not forcing people to serve, we are hiring. During the slack time, people have nothing to do. They just use their energy to build roads and earn a little extra money to support their families. How can the people not support it?"

Zhu Cixiang nodded again: "The people will be happy to participate."

"Since it's not working for the people, why not do it?"

"But it hurts money."

Lu Mou shook his head: "First of all, the money spent is not the money that has been budgeted by the Ministry of Revenue and the treasury, but the money for the service that must benefit the people. How can this be considered a loss of wealth? At the same time, Xiuzhi is not only It won’t hurt your money, but you will still gain something.”

Zhu Cixiang laughed: "Third brother, don't make excuses just to build a straight road or eat a hot braised chicken. How can you still benefit from building a road?"

Lu Mou said with a smile: "First, the straight road is completed, I will set up a card to collect fees on the straight road."

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Cixiang almost jumped up from his chair in surprise: "You want to use clever excuses to exploit the people? This strategy will never work."

Lu Mou smiled and shook his head, "Brother Huang has misunderstood. I don't want to charge the people walking on the straight road. I want to charge the merchants walking on the straight road."

There is little resistance to charging untouchable merchants.

"Then when will the fees be recovered?"

"If there are too many merchants, can we take it back quickly?"

Zhu Cixiang shook his head: "There is a certain amount of wealth in the world. There are only so many merchants, how can it be increased?"

(End of this chapter)