Zhao Bing and the three of them ate and explained the importance of monopolizing the business of incense and medicine to the country and the people, and repeatedly reminded them to keep the secrets strictly and not to disclose them. At the same time, they took out the latest chart he drew and gave them, and told them to set up bases along the way as a supply and rest point for the merchants of the Song Dynasty. In addition, they should pay attention to collecting political and economic information, meteorological and water conditions, surveying waterways, and drawing navigation maps. In addition, they explained some precautions and principles of military use, which made the three of them retreat.

The reason why he repeatedly asked the three people to keep their secrets was that in addition to the commercial secrets involved, Zhao Bing was still worried that the court officials would be right. He knew that the means he used were somewhat unfavorable. However, he also knew that in the process of developing trade routes to the outside world, it would be difficult to do it with the power of the people alone. The same was true in the early stages of the powerful expansion of the Western countries. The caravans sent in the name of the company actually had the shadow of the country behind them, and even the kings held shares. Once other countries intervened in the dispute, the country would come forward to resolve the matter, and the means were to compete with force, and it would depend on who had a big fist.

However, Zhao Bing knew very well that under the social system where Confucianism was prevalent in the Song Dynasty, although the court encouraged business, business was still regarded as the last business, and businessmen were basically equated with cunning and cunning people. In this case, there was almost no possibility of relying on the country to support the merchants, so he could only act secretly and could not use the means of prescription to protect the interests of the merchants of the Song Dynasty. Otherwise, it would be a piece of advice, and he would be labeled as competing for profit with the people, but he did not think about how to solve the financial difficulties he faced.

On the other hand, after capturing Jiangnan, especially the establishment of the inland river naval army, the status of the naval army will inevitably decline. At present, the Mongolian and Yuan naval army has lost all the elites, and it will take some time to restore their vitality. Nearly 100,000 naval troops cannot be idle all day long and chase a few pirates to fight. Therefore, Zhao Bing is not afraid of someone making trouble for himself on the trade route. Once someone has a life, he has reason to rush into the sea to completely control the maritime trade route and force them to open the ports to the Song Dynasty, so that the silk and porcelain produced by the Song Dynasty can be sold all over the world.

The development of business roads will inevitably promote the development and prosperity of handicrafts and greatly increase tax revenue. At the same time, it can absorb a large amount of labor to enter, thereby alleviating the land tension in the south of the Yangtze River. In this way, everyone has something to do, who would still think of rebelling, which can make the country stable. Therefore, in the short term, it can ease the country's financial difficulties; in the long run, it will help increase people's income, achieve a win-win situation of the country's prosperity and the people's strength, and be conducive to national stability; in addition, it will accumulate funds for the Northern Expedition so that the Song Dynasty's economy will not be dragged down by the protracted war.

The prospects are beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Zhao Bing soon became worried. Seeing that the wedding date is approaching, where does the money come from? This time I used not a small amount of money. The autumn tax has been deposited. It is not impossible to dismantle it from the court. However, he knew that the territory was too large and there were more places to use money. First of all, the money had to pay the salaries and military expenses of officials, which had already taken up most of it. Moreover, winter was approaching, and this place was not as good as Qiongzhou, which could save the cost of winter clothing. Therefore, not only the army had to distribute winter clothing, but officials also had to give brocade, silk, cotton and charcoal money, which was also a considerable expense.

In addition, when the Yangtze River is dry, it is also the time when the war is most tense. Although the two sides are negotiating, who knows that they will start one day, so they must be prepared. In addition, when there are too many things in the local area, it is inevitable that disasters will occur in the local area. According to the financial system of the Song Dynasty, most of the money belongs to the central government and the local financial resources are limited. Once something happens, the central government has to reliably allocate funds to rescue disasters, which also requires some reserves.

So the court didn't have much money left, and Zhao Bing didn't want to misappropriate the state affairs because of his marriage, which led to the slack of state affairs. In this way, wouldn't he become Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty? Because of the military spending of the navy to purchase warships, he built the Summer Palace, which led to the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. But everyone knows that if you don't want to spend money to get a wife, it's a fool no matter when you are miserable. Be prepared to be a single dog for the rest of your life!

The same goes for the emperor, and he could not escape the custom of "buying and selling marriage". Zhao Bing did not know how much the Emperor of the Song Dynasty spent on a marriage, but he knew that the wedding of Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun of the Ming Dynasty only cost more than 90,000 taels of silver; the Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty spent more than 20,000 taels of silver in total, which was almost equivalent to more than 30% of the national fiscal revenue that year. He estimated that even if he saved money for this wedding, it would not be less than 7 or 8 million jin. It would be good if the court could squeeze out two or three million jin of funds, so he would have to raise at least 4 million jin of himself.

"Official family, it's time to have a meal!" Seeing that the little emperor sat down for a long time with a frown, Wang De didn't dare to disturb him. He sent everyone away to wait far away to avoid being upset. He saw that it was noon, so he came over carefully and said.

"It's time to have a meal again, but I don't have any appetite at all, so I'll spare it!" Zhao Bing looked up at Wang De and waved his hand with a wry smile.

"Why are the officials worried about it? Is it still because of the wedding?" Wang De has been with the young emperor for more than ten years and knows that he is a starving ghost to death. Unless he is seriously ill or has no time to worry about the war, he will never eat a meal even if he is a simple meal. If he doesn't eat any more food today, he must have encountered a bad thing. He thought about it and tried to ask.

"Oh, that's right!" Zhao Bing sighed.

"The preceptor should not have sent a message to you. The empress dowager has agreed to Your Majesty's arrangements, so what else can I worry about?" Wang De said with a smile.

"It's hard for a rich man to have no money!" Zhao Bing said with a wry smile after hearing this, "Not to mention the cost of this wedding, the Empress Dowager's monthly salary is 10,000 guan, and 20,000 guan each in winter, cold food, and birthday. Add ten thousand pieces of silk to the birthday, spring, winter, Dragon Boat Festival, and three thousand pieces of silk to the winter; add five thousand taels of silk to the silk to the silk to the other side; don't count the other, the annual salary is 180,000 guan. After the wedding, only one queen and five concubines will have an annual salary of about 300,000 guan. If the salary and consumption of the female officials and eunuchs in the palace are added, it will cost more than one million guan, and the cost will be more than several times."

"What the official said is that this time, the rebuilding of introspection was restored, and the Six Shangs, Twenty-Four Seals, Twenty-Four Seals, Twenty-Four Palms, etc. increased by hundreds of people, which of course increased the cost a lot compared to the previous one." Wang De nodded and said. When he moved to Qiongzhou, there were only twenty eunuchs and dozens of palace maids in the palace. After the relocation of the court, there were only more than a hundred people in the Great Inner, all of whom served several positions, so the expenses were naturally much smaller.

But the current situation is different. There are more than 400 newly selected female girls in the palace. Those who choose to serve as imperial attendants or select concubines are all called palace ladies. Although they are unqualified palace maids and do not need monthly salary, they are all expenses for food, drinking, defecation and slaughter. And those female officials and eunuchs have salary. Even if they are much lower, it is not enough to not have tens of thousands of yuan a month. This is no wonder the little emperor is worried.

"Oh, the Queen Mother is urging her to get married, but I can't refuse. But now I'm not a god. I don't know how to turn stones into gold. I'm not looking for so much money for a while. Is it necessary to increase taxes to force the people to rebel?" Zhao Bing said helplessly and angrily.

"The officials used to be frugal, and they were careful in everything and reduced their expenses for the country. But at this time, they were not as good as before, and some pomp would still be needed. Only in this way can they show the royal majesty and shock the world." Wang De advised.

"Although there is something to do, the Central Plains has not returned, so the capital is still in the hands of the enemy, so how can we be greedy for enjoyment? Moreover, once the royal wind is opened, the court and the country will be immersed in extravagance, so that the army has no desire to fight and the people have no intention of enterprising!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and said.

"Don't worry about the official family. All the concubines selected in the palace are virtuous and kind concubines. They will definitely be able to understand the painstaking efforts of the official family." Wang De could only comfort him after hearing this.

"I hope this is the case! But the wedding is about to be imminent, I can't handle it just by relying on the few taels of silver in my pocket!" Zhao Bing sighed.

"No way?" Wang De said in confusion after hearing this.

"Why can't it be? All the money in the warehouse has been spread out. If everything goes well, the financial situation next year will be alleviated, but the far water will not relieve the near thirst!" Zhao Bing asked back.

"Has the official forgotten a sum of money?" Wang De did not nod, nor shook his head, and frowned after thinking for a moment.

"There is still some money? Why can't I remember it!" Zhao Bing thought hard for a few days, and turned the little money in his hand and adjusted it all over. He felt that there was no other money available except selling the rare antiques in the warehouse!

"It seems that the official family has really forgotten it. Don't there be any money in the Affairs Bureau!" Seeing that the little emperor thought hard but couldn't figure it out, Wang De reminded softly.

"There is still a sum of money in the Bureau of Affairs? Why don't I know?" Zhao Bing thought for a while. He remembered that he had an agreement with Zheng Huchen, smuggling sea salt and dividing it into the warehouse. Part of it was used as the operating expenses of the Bureau of Affairs. The warehouse had already been transferred in full swing, so how could there be any extra money?

"The official family, Zheng Zheng has been in charge of the past decade. The business of several businesses, whether printed counterfeit banknotes, private salt transactions and reselling of yuan banknotes, has detailed accounts. It is reported every year that the Imperial City Department will be kept for the official to check. The surplus over the years is exchanged for gold and silver and stored properly for the official's needs. Now, more than 300,000 taels of gold and more than 4.3 million taels of silver have been accumulated. If it is exchanged into copper coins, it should be worth tens of millions of guan." Wang De reported.

"Oh, there are so many!" Zhao Bing said in surprise. Over the years, he handed over several well-off businesses to the Bureau of Affairs to do, one for their funds; the other was to treat his secret power well. Therefore, in addition to the share that should be paid to him, he never asked about the remaining money and allowed it to be controlled by Zheng Huchen, but he did not expect that it had accumulated all of it and had not swallowed it up for himself.

"If the official family doesn't believe it, the young one will take the account book and ask the official family to review it in person." Wang De saw the little emperor's face shocked and looked at him, and said quickly.

"Is there anyone else who knows about this?" Zhao Bing waved his hand and asked instead.

"Reported to the official family, Chief Zheng personally handed over the account book to the young man at the end of the year every year, and asked him to keep it properly, and never regarded it as others." Wang De replied.

"Okay, don't tell others about this, otherwise it will cause trouble!" Zhao Bing nodded and reminded Wang Dedao.

"Official family, why is this?" Wang De's turn was puzzled and asked carefully.

"Such a large sum of money can be used to pay the annual grain tax for the court. Now it suddenly appears. Even if the people in the court don't dare to ask me, they will investigate secretly. Once they find out the clues, they will harm Zheng Huchen." Zhao Bing thought about it and explained to him.

"No wonder Master Zheng repeatedly instructed him that the government would not ask, but just keep the account book properly, and do not mention it to others. It turned out that he was also worried that someone would investigate the matter!" Wang De said suddenly.

"He is a kind-hearted person!" Zhao Bing curled his lips and said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, who would have thought that this money would solve the government's urgent need!" Wang De also smiled and agreed.

"I feel hungry, let's pass on the meal!" Zhao Bing did not continue to say it, but instead made it serve him. He knew that what he said was not the same as what Wang De said, but he could not explain such words to anyone, so he could only press and say nothing.

As the saying goes, "Accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger." Especially the founding kings and ministers often have the same difficulties, but they are difficult to be rich. Zhao Bing thought that Zheng Huchen's understanding of this was very profound. He knew that he was deeply trusted by himself, so he gained many privileges, including the opportunity to make money. However, he also understood that although what he did was done was done by order, the means were difficult to get openly mentioned, and there were matters involving the emperor's privacy. Once something caused the emperor's dissatisfaction, it would arouse suspicion, and the former favor became his own desperation, so he left a hand so that he could prove his innocence at that time.

On the other hand, Zheng Huchen knew that his identity was shameless. Although he had been in a state of confidentiality, he had not been unknown to outsiders for so many years. The court officials were afraid and hated him, but with the little emperor blocking him, he could not do anything to him. However, there were unexpected situations in the world and people would be lucky and good luck at any time. If he died one day before, Zheng Huchen would lose his protection, and those people would be quick in the early stages.

If someone walks by the river, he will not be able to wet his shoes. Zheng Huchen dare not guarantee that he has no mistakes in his actions. If someone makes a mistake in his life, he will definitely lead all the ministers to attack him. Then the emperor has to force everyone to investigate him under the pressure of everyone. However, money has always been the most likely place to go. Moreover, the huge amount of money he has been in hand can prove his innocence. Not only can he keep this account book in advance prove his innocence, but the accumulated amount of money can also help him get rid of his crime!
Chapter completed!