Chapter 3                                                              

Zhou Mengchen entered Wanshou Palace, and the sunlight hit the ground through the glass window, and then the floor tiles on the ground were mirrored to spread the sunlight halo. In conjunction with the glass everywhere in the hall, it gave people a bizarre feeling.

The person who designed the Wanshou Palace was Zhou Mengchen's disciple Lu Gao. Lu Gao even let the sun shine into the ceremony through different channels according to different time and seasons, reflecting different brilliance.

There is a layer of halo around the dragon chaise of Jiajing. From the perspective of Jiajing, you don’t feel anything different. But from the bottom upwards, you feel a dazzling feeling.

This is the characteristic that promotes the sacredness of the emperor and cannot be seen directly.

Zhou Mengchen was surprised that his disciples could become such an outstanding architectural designer. He could do this with just some new materials and some optical knowledge. It can be seen that there are smart people in every era. It is just how their intelligence should be used.

Fortunately, Jiajing did not meet Zhou Mengchen in the main hall.

Walking through the bizarre hall, I came to the back hall.

Compared to the Holy Spirit of the main hall, the back hall is much simpler. But it has many particularly comfortable designs. Zhou Mengchen saw some Su-like shadows from above. The so-called Ming Dynasty furniture is actually a peak in ancient furniture.

Because too many literati participated, many of the advantages of design have been passed down. Even in later generations, it is still a favorite of collectors.

However, the furniture in the Ming Dynasty was truly formed during the Wanli period. Lu Gao made up for a lot of things with his own genius design. This made the Jiajing back hall look simple, but it is actually simple, but it is actually not simple at all.

Zhou Mengchen sorted out all the affairs about Qianfa into articles and submitted them to Jiajing.

Jiajing took it over, glanced at it a few times, then turned to the end, and said, "What Zhou Qing meant is my four million taels of gold and silver, has it been done?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "From next year, the Ministry of Revenue will withdraw five million taels from taxes and send them into the internal treasury. From then on, it has been a routine."

Jiajing said, "Okay." Then someone asked hypocritically, "There will be no problem with the cost of the court in this way?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "It's not possible to ask for the defense line. Now the court's taxes are divided into several large pieces. The first is land tax, 23 million stones of grain. Most of this part is used to pay the salaries of hundreds of officials, local officials, and some military rations for the army. There is almost no surplus. Each grain is used tightly."                                                                                                                                                                                                                 �

"Third, salt tax, iron tax, and commercial taxes from all over the country, totaling ten million taels."

"Third, stamp duty, bank taxes. There are eight million taels."

"If there is no big fluctuation, the annual tax on Ming Dynasty is about 30 million taels of silver and 2,300 stones of grain."

Jiajing raised his eyebrows and said, "So many?"

Zhou Mengchen immediately heard what Jiajing meant. Jiajing wanted more.

Zhou Mengchen immediately said, "Your Majesty, although you have too much money, you have more places to use it. There is almost no remaining amount of land tax. In recent years, millions of stones of grain have been purchased from Nanyang every year, which is enough for the imperial court to use. This is more than one hundred taels."

"After the military reform, the imperial court's military expenditure increased significantly."

"Hundreds of battalions, plus the navy, the military expenditure is more than 1,200 million. In addition, there are additional river construction funds in various places, depending on the situation, ranging from millions to millions per year. As for the salaries at all levels of the court, and even the rewards from the court, the projects in the palace, and the money from His Majesty."

"In addition, some disaster relief funds are as much as 10 or 20 million yuan a year. The court simply cannot make ends meet."

Zhou Mengchen calculated that the surplus of the court was only about one or two million taels.

It made Jiajing lose his temper for a while.

Jiajing said: "Why do I always feel that no amount of money can be enough to spend?"

Of course, it is not enough to spend, it doesn’t depend on who calculates the account.

It’s not that Zhou Mengchen reported the fake accounts to Jiajing. It’s that Zhou Mengchen changed the concept in many places, and many expenses were very large. There was a lot of space savings in it. If Fang Du was still there, it would be normal for him to suppress millions of taels or even more money with his iron wrist.

Zhou Mengchen could not honestly report Jiajing to Jiajing. After all, what kind of person is Jiajing? A big-handed person. Even during the Jiajing period, when it was at its most crisis, Jiajing did not feel wronged. He never stopped all kinds of buildings.

Now that I know that I have money, it is naturally impossible to give up.

However, Zhou Mengchen could only make excuses for a while, and it was impossible to keep making excuses. Because Zhou Mengchen's own regulations, he issued documents every year to publish what the cabinet did within one year. Among them, financial data is a very important part.

It is impossible to hide it from Jiajing.

Therefore, it is necessary to spend money on the assault. Zhou Mengchen thought so in his heart, but said, "Your Majesty, I have heard a story that the larger the snake is, the larger the snake cave. The snake cave is always larger than the snake's body."

"The same is true for the imperial court. The imperial court needs money everywhere. No matter how much money it has, it cannot be kept."

Jiajing said: "What should I do if I collect so much taxes?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "Your Majesty is of course useful. In fact, the court's previous maintenance of the Nine Borders was also worth tens of millions per year, but the court's accounts were not revealed because a lot of money was allocated directly from the local area. Taking Shanxi as an example, Shanxi's taxes could not support Shanxi Town and Datong Town at all. The people were breathless, and even the pain of fortune was even more painful."

"Now, 12 million taels are all from the court. The people can rest temporarily, north of the Yellow River."

"The most important thing is to calm the people and to stabilize the country."

After hearing this, Jiajing sneered in his heart. He didn't care whether the people of the Yangtze River could rest or the people of the Yellow River could rest. He just knew one thing, that is, Zhou Mengchen decided not to increase the money.

Jiajing didn't ask again.

After all, Zhou Mengchen has proved his strength.

Although Jiajing is very powerful and a little afraid of Zhou Mengchen, he still can't stand the impulse of using Zhou Mengchen. The reason is very simple, Zhou Mengchen can make money. He actually didn't expect that Zhou Mengchen could really do it. Jiajing made so much money every year, which made him unprecedentedly generous.

Even more generous than Yan Song was when he was there.

Yan Song was also making money for Jiajing. But Yan Song's important task was to entrust Yan Shifan. But Yan Shifan, who was the man who could give all the money he got to Jiajing, naturally had to intercept it. Not only Yan Shifan had to intercept it, but the Yan Party members would also think outside.

Not to mention, there is a limit on the money obtained by these evil ways.

There is no constant source of energy.

Only the wealth brought by the development of productivity will continue to flow.

For a moment, Jiajing liked Zhou Mengchen, probably because Zhou Mengchen now wore a golden halo. The golden light was shining, just like the God of Wealth. Jiajing also knew what Zhou Mengchen asked for. However, he did not say it directly, but asked a question and said, "Does the prince know these things?"
Chapter completed!