Zhang Yue and Wang Gui's Zhongshu, both provinces under his sect, can play in pairs in separate classes.

But major matters are mainly discussed during the official shift in the Shangshu Province.

Wang Gui, Zhang Yue, and the left and right ministers Cai Que and Wang Anli, who were the ministers of the Shangshu Province, reported political matters in front of the emperor.

Cai Quedao: "Your Majesty, Zhongshu requires Shangshu to move the pass to Zhongshu from now on, and the word 'Shang' should be added as a sign of respect."

"I think this move is very inappropriate. The three provinces are all under the jurisdiction of the emperor, and political affairs come from their own initiative. The three provinces should be equal and resist each other with etiquette. How can there be any intention of Zhongshu to be superior to Shangshu Province?"

Cai Jing believed that the power of Zhongshu today was indeed too great. The Zhongshu Province where Zhang Yue was located not only had the power to take orders, but also had the power to deal with "lawlessness", and also had the personnel power to remove officials below the rank of attendant.

Therefore, Zhongshu Province has the most arrogant attitude among the three provinces.

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, the weight of the power is the weight of the etiquette. How can I change it just because of the weight of the power? Besides, I am also the minister Zuopushe. How can I despise the minister of ministers and attach importance to the province of ministers because he is also the minister of Zhongshu?"

"Nowadays, Zhongshu makes orders and does the lawless things, and Shangshu follows them. Although the three provinces each perform their own responsibilities, there is no distinction between superior and inferior. Once the government orders are chaotic and cannot be unified, who will rule them?"

Officials said: "The three provinces have the same structure. Zhongshu Sheng will discuss it carefully. Shangshu Sheng will listen to Zhongshu in planning and implementation. There is nothing wrong with it."

Zhang Yue smiled slightly when he heard this.

Being an official is like this. You have to be sensitive to any power. You not only have to guard your own, but you also have to usurp other people's.

Go tell the other party that this is mine, and this is mine too, and you must use fierce force to snatch it. Power is like sailing against the current. If you don’t snatch it from others, others will snatch it from you.

Now that Zhongshu is strong, he has no reason not to weaken the power of Shangshu and his two provinces bit by bit.

Cai Quedao: "Your Majesty, after Zhongshu received the decree, several cases were approved and implemented by himself without going through the Shangshu Province."

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, Minister, the process here is too long. If things are progressing but not going well, there is no need to plan some small things."

Cai Quedao: "Your Majesty, since this is the way to pass the test and set a time limit for each incident, if any official fails to do it, he will be punished by passing the test. Zhongshu bypassed the minister and saved the text, so it was originally agreed that the subordinates would review it.

, what is the use of being a minister?"

The official said: "All plans of Zhongshu must be implemented by the Minister!"

Check out the correct version one by one!

Cai Que got another chance from Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue often bypassed the Shangshu Province to give orders to the ministries and temples, and did not follow the procedures, so there was indeed something wrong with him.

However, Cai can indeed say this, but in fact Zhang Yue will do this again in the future.

Zhang Yue often ordered his subordinates to do this first since things were still being processed under the minister's door.

It seems that liking "micro-management" is a common quality of every high-ranking person. When Zhang Yue was a minister, he complained about the micro-management of the government all day long, and it was "really good" when he became the prime minister.

…

During the tea break, Wang Gui, Zhang Yue, Cai Que, Wang Anli and others were chatting and laughing.

The few people chatting as if the overt and covert fight just now did not exist at all, which is not to say that they are fake.

We have seen enough storms and waves, and we have all seen the despicable side of human nature. Everyone competes with profit as the starting point.

There are not bad people here, but there are definitely no stupid people, and stupid people are sometimes much worse than bad people.

Cai Que sipped the tea and said: "Prime Minister, your Majesty split the Zhongshu Menxia into two provinces under the Zhongshu Men, just because you don't want anyone to monopolize the power of the Prime Minister. Now the Prime Minister doesn't think that Zhongshu Province is better than the original Zhongshu Menxia.

?”

What Cai Que meant was that Yuanfeng's restructuring split the Zhongshu clan into two, which meant that the emperor wanted to suppress the power of the prime minister. However, Zhang Yue became prosperous and took over all the power, causing the power ratio of the Zhongshu clan to decline.

The previous Zhongshu disciples were quite powerful. If the emperor had not seen that Zhang Yue would resign in one year, he would not have tolerated it until now.

Zhang Yue thought to himself that this was not the case. Historically, Cai Jing during Huizong's time was more powerful than he was now. The government reformed the system and divided the power of the prime minister, which in the end created the power of the prime minister.

Zhang Yue said: "Be honest, I don't like to do things by myself. I just have to do it."

"You will know this after you become Prime Minister."

Cai Quexin said, isn't Zhang Yue scolding them for being too incompetent? Does Zhang Yue have to push everything to him?

Cai Que said: "Prime Minister, what I, Cai Que, regret most is that I did not find a good marriage! Other than that, I don't think there is anything I am not qualified for."

Zhang Yue said: "Not only that, I know you are also determined to reform the government, but reforming the government is like felling wood."

"A tree is too big, too deep-rooted and leafy. If you use a knife to chop it with an axe, you will not only cut down the tree, but also hurt yourself. You can only hold the tree together and shake it from side to side. When the soil loosens, the roots will come out.

, the final word.”

"You have the courage to take responsibility, but if you are too hasty and don't know how to hold back, you will fall into chaos in the future and end up in deep trouble."

Cai Que shook his head after listening to Zhang Yue's words and said: "Cai is ignorant and cannot understand the prime minister's wise way of protecting himself. Of course, Duke Jing will not understand either."

Zhang Yue smiled and shook his head.

…

Continue the meeting afterwards.

The following is Huang Lu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who went out to make a financial report.

The treasury has been spending money like water.

The Dangxiang side was not peaceful, and the Shaanxi Five-Road Imperial Court maintained hundreds of thousands of troops. However, the war with the Liao Kingdom in Hedong broke out again, which delayed the Song army's attack on Dangxiang.

At the same time, in order to cope with the Liao army moving south, the imperial court prepared for war in various areas of Hebei and set up three auxiliary armies near the capital, which all led to the increasing expansion of the imperial court's financial expenditure.

The money Wang Anshi and Zhang Yue had obtained before was gradually unable to support such a large stall.

While talking, Huang Lu ordered people to bring thick materials.

Finance has always been a two-way street. What should I do if I don’t have enough money?

Choose one to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

There are two ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, one is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure outward, and the other is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure inward.

Huang Ludao: "Your Majesty, the Yuanfeng Accounting Records revised by me have been completed. Previously, they were edited by the Third Division, Zhongshu Accounting Department. Later, due to a fire in the Third Division, the accounts were lost. I searched everywhere again, and after the restructuring, the Account Department was established.

.The accounts of the minister in charge of the world have finally been compiled into a book."

"Accountants live within their means to prevent failure to pay and to save money."

Zhang Yue looked at the thick account book. He originally planned to make this account, but it was interrupted when Lu Huiqing burned the third division. Now Huang Lu made the accounting again on the premise that the third division's accounts were burned.

Really impressive.

Cai Que said: "Your Majesty, salt banknotes and jiaozi are now popular among the people. Since the income is not enough, more salt banknotes and jiaozi are printed to alleviate the urgent need."

Zhang Yue glanced at Cai Que and thought, "You don't have to be so anxious to show off."

Huang Lu said: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, nothing has enriched the country and benefited the people more than coins. Over the years, the imperial court has had great difficulty in convincing the merchants and common people that salt banknotes can be used as coins. The imperial court has set up Jiaoyinjian as the Quanfu to regulate wealth. There is no need to make copper coins every year, and iron coins

Money, you can save millions of coins from the salt banknote exchange!"

"This method of killing the goose to get the eggs and depleting the lake to catch fish must not be practiced."

Business social credit comes first.

How to make people treat banknotes as real gold and silver is a top priority for the court.

Otherwise, once there is a financial shortage, the excessive issuance of banknotes will lead to severe inflation, which is an act that destroys credit.

The Southern Song Dynasty was able to use Huizi for hundreds of years because the superiors knew how to exercise restraint.

The official looked at Zhang Yue and asked, "In your opinion, is there any other way for the court to increase its financial income?"

Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, there is."

"You all don't believe that there is a way to make money out of thin air, but it does exist, and that is trade."

"I told your Majesty before..."

Zhang Yue told a story to the emperor before, which is a replica of the story of the prisoner of war camp in later generations.

A man took a bag of food and walked around the bartering prisoner-of-war camp and made several transactions. When he came out, he not only had the same amount of food, but also had a few more apples.

This is how wealth can be generated through the exchange of goods and services.

This is different from the original sin theory that businessmen only buy low and sell high, but do not produce.

A country with developed commerce and increased trade can create wealth. The Wealth of Nations also says that social division of labor and free trade can create more wealth.

Next, Zhang Yue changed his painting style and said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, Goryeo does not have the method of spring house like China. There is only a small amount of silver cakes to make money in the country. Most of the people use rice and cloth to trade, or use things to make money.

barter."

"As long as there is open trade between the two countries, both our country and Yanchaojiaozi will be able to flow into North Korea and reap great benefits."

“The ginseng, ink, paper, literary mats, ramie, folding fans, porcelain and other items from Goryeo are all available to this dynasty, while the books, medicinal materials, spices, dyes, silks, teas, and jades from this dynasty are all valuable to Goryeo.

In the past, the Liao Kingdom blocked the sea route and prevented trade, but now it is no longer a problem. As long as the imperial court controls the trade between the two countries, it can make profits of more than one million guan every year."

"Previously, Su Shi entered Goryeo on the orders of his ministers, and he had roughly reached an agreement with the country's ruler, but now he has been convicted! Now I don't know who to send to Goryeo again!"

After Zhang Yue finished speaking, Cai Que's face turned pale. He knew that Zhang Yue was using this matter to attack him.

Cai Que hurriedly argued: "Your Majesty, I don't know about this. But Su Shi is indeed guilty."

Zhang Yue said: "Of course Zuo Cheng doesn't know, but why he was so eager, no matter whether Su Shi was guilty or not, he didn't discuss it with me in advance, or let Huang Yan take a look at the bullet. You two were so eager, so you reported it early.

Your Majesty, now that Su Shi has been demoted, how does the leader of Goryeo feel when he finds out?"
To be continued...