Chapter 15: In the Grand Canal

In order to build the Grand Canal as soon as possible, Yuwen Kai and the other three were reluctant to delay for a moment. After returning, they hurried to write the memorial overnight. The next day, when the officials shouted long live, Yuwen Kai stood up from the court officials: "Report to the emperor, I have something to do to report to me."

Yang Yong nodded, naturally knowing what Yuwen Kai was going to report, and said with a smile: "My dear, please speak."

"Report to the emperor, our Great Sui Dynasty is vast and the north and south are too far apart. It takes several months for a place to spread to the capital. It takes one year for the army to be mobilized from north to south. The old emperor often worrys about it. Now our Great Sui Dynasty is rich and the people are strong. I urge you to dig a Grand Canal connecting north and south. In this way, information and logistics in the north and south will be smooth and the army will be mobilized quickly, which will not only benefit the country, but also benefit the people."

In the long run, although building the Grand Canal has great benefits to the court, it is impossible to get all the officials to agree. As soon as Yuwen Kai's words fell, hundreds of officials in the court immediately discussed it, and they quarreled with opponents. The Grand Canal has been discussed for more than ten years, and everyone has already seen the pros and cons of it. The opponents did not see the benefits of building the Grand Canal, but they were worried that the project would be too big and the burden on the people was too heavy.

Yang Yong coughed a few times before the court calmed down again. Zuo Pushe Su Wei stood up and asked Yuwen Kai: "Mr. Yuwen, I don't know how much food is needed to build the Grand Canal that communicates between the north and the south, and how long does it take?"

"Well, if you collect labor service, it will only cost about 15 million knots, but these are worth it. If there is a big river that communicates between the north and the south, the food, cloth and other items saved in and out of the capital every year will be worth at least millions of knots." Yuwen Kai was prepared for a long time.

15 million guan was not much, and the income from the court was less than a year. The construction of Renshou Palace and Luoyang Palace cost about 20 million guan. The ministers who opposed the construction of the canal were silent. It would be impossible to use 15 million guan to build a Grand Canal that communicates between the north and the south.

Su Wei did not relax: "If the labor service is not collected, what if the wages are paid according to the standards for building Renshou Palace?"

When the Renshou Palace was built, the treasury was abundant, and the current emperor personally presided over it. In order to make the people feel that the work is profitable, the wages were very high, and ordinary civilians could get more than eight guan a year. In the Luoyang Palace, the wages of ordinary civilians were only about four or five guan a year.

"This..." If the Grand Canal also adopts this approach, it will require more than 100 million guan of money. Yuwen Kai couldn't help looking at the emperor. Seeing the emperor nodding, he said with a thorn in his mouth: "Mr. Su, it will take about 100 million guan and 30 million shi of food."

As soon as Yuwen Kai was exported, hundreds of officials were in an uproar. What is the concept of 100 million guan and 3,000 stone of grain? In recent years, the tax revenue of the court has increased year by year. Due to the rapid development of the textile industry, the court has cancelled the method of paying taxes with cloth and silk, and replaced them with money and grain. Last year, the first year of Daye, the tax of the court reached a new high, totaling more than 26 million guan of copper coins, more than 7 million guan of rice, more than 21 million guan of wheat and millet. This tax is almost four times more than four times that of the early years of Kaihuang.

Despite this, due to the development of the economy, especially the textile mills contributed a large amount of taxes, the combined taxes of each weaving factory alone reached more than 7 million yuan. In addition to the transaction of related cloth, the taxes drawn by the court from the textile industry are very likely to reach more than 10 million yuan, and their value is several times higher than the taxes in the farmland. The burden on farmers does not need to be felt too heavy.

Hearing this number, Su Wei nodded with satisfaction. Generally speaking, in addition to paying taxes stipulated by the government on time every year, corvee labor is also indispensable. In the previous dynasty, a middle-aged man had to perform corvee labor for up to sixty or seventy days a year, and even the army had to serve for forty-five days a year.

For ordinary people, corvee labor is even more terrible than normal taxes. During the period of corvee labor service for the government, they not only have no wages, but they even have to bring their own food. If they are local, it would be fine, and at most they would be delayed. If they have to go to other places to perform corvee labor, the travel expenses and food expenses alone may limit a farmer to bankruptcy.

In the early years of Kaihuang, in order to encourage farmers to farm and reduce the burden on farmers, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered that only one person's corvee would not exceed twenty days a year, and the people basically did not leave the county town when they were in labor service. After unifying the south, in order to win the hearts of the people in Jiangnan, the people in Jiangnan were also ordered to exempt them from ten years of corvee.

It is no wonder that Yang Guang defeated Yang Jian's strong family in more than ten years. As soon as he took office, he drove two million civilians to build the Tongji Canal, and four or five hundred thousand people were killed or injured in half a year. Compared with the policies during the Kaihuang period, it was no wonder that everyone rebelled later.

However, the construction of Daxing City was inevitably subject to a large amount of corvee labor, with many deaths and injuries. Later, the court gradually became more and more lenient. When building Renshou Palace and Luoyang City, the emperor accepted the persuasion of the prince, and basically did not use corvee labor. All the officials were responsible for the food and paid wages. Although the court expenditure was greatly increased, the quality of the project was guaranteed and the people were benefited. It was considered a joy. In recent years, corvee labor has been reduced from 20 days per year to 10 days, and all corvee labor labor after the age of fifty was exempted.

This policy made the people very grateful to the former emperor. If the new emperor ascended the throne and promoted corvee service, it would probably lose all the hearts of the people. According to the new emperor's usual practice, it would probably still be necessary to guide the people to abandon farmers and do work. In this way, the cost of digging the canal would scare most people.

Sure enough, as soon as Yuwen Kai finished speaking, Yang Shangxi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, couldn't help but speak: "Your Majesty, this move is absolutely not good. Building the Grand Canal is too wasteful and hurting the people's money. Although it is beneficial to the country for a long time, it is just like suicide and taking eggs for chickens, causing us to be in danger of the Sui Dynasty. If the officials force the people to rebel, then... then..."

Yang Shangxi was furious when he heard the following words, so he could only swallow them. Yang Shangxi was nearly 70 years old and had been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue for decades. Naturally, he would offend many people or be jealous. In the tenth year of Kaihuang, Yang Shangxi fell seriously ill and almost died. Many people celebrated it at that time.

It just happened that Sun Simiao cured him in Beijing, and now he has lived for more than ten years. After the new emperor ascended the throne, many people thought that Yang Shangxi could no longer be the Minister of Revenue. Unexpectedly, the new emperor still trusted him very much and kept him.

"Mr. Yang, my Great Sui Dynasty's financial resources are far better than before. Although the Grand Canal is an unprecedented feat, it is not as serious as what Lord Yang said. Is it sensational?" Yuwen Kai frowned. He had never cared about the government affairs. He thought that everything would go smoothly with the support of the emperor, but he did not expect that the court would be full of opposition as soon as he spoke.

"Yes, based on last year's tax revenue, the Grand Canal can be completed within four years without eating or drinking. But don't forget that although the taxes in the court are high and the expenses are large, how much can the court be left after removing the expenses?" Yang Shangxi asked calmly.

"Xiaguan heard that the court had 7 million guan surplus the previous year. Last year, it must be more. The Ministry of Revenue earned tens of millions of guan a year. As long as the place is tight and the fund is allocated 10 million guan a year, it can connect the waterway from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River in three years. With ten years of hard work, the entire Grand Canal can be completed."

Yang Shangxi shook his head: "Hmph, ten million guan, I can tell you that the Ministry of Revenue's surplus last year was only one million guan, ten million guan a year. Is it light to think about it?"

"What? One million guan is impossible." Yuwen Kai shouted. If the Ministry of Revenue only earns one million guan a year, wouldn't it take a hundred years to build the Grand Canal? Not only Yuwen Kai, but also other court officials also looked at Yang Shangxi with deep doubts. Yang Shangxi has been the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue all his life. He would not have started to embezzle when he is old, otherwise how could he suddenly change from seven million guan to one million guan.

Yang Shangxi disdained everyone's suspicion. After decades of financial management, Yang Shangxi didn't know how many people he had offended. Every year, his colleagues wanted to catch him. However, the reconciliation at the palace at the end of the year showed his innocence, so he was naturally not afraid of others' suspicion.

"Yang Aiqing, you might as well report your income and expenditure last year in the court so that everyone can know where the expenses of the Ministry of Revenue have reached?"

Except for the emperor and the left and right servants and ministers of various ministries, the other officials did not have the chance to know the specific expenses of the court. The emperor asked Yang Shangxi to explain it, which was also to clean up Yang Shangxi's innocence.

"I obey the order." Yang Shangxi knew the emperor's intention: "Return to the emperor and his colleagues, the expenses of the court last year were mainly five yuan, one was the official salary and the operation of yamen at all levels, the second was the expenses of the army, the third was the expenses of the inner court of the palace, the fourth was the expenses of the funeral of the previous emperor and the new emperor ascended the throne, and the fifth was the expenses of the rest of the miscellaneous matters."

In the early Sui Dynasty, due to the financial constraints of the court and the large number of redundant officials and redundant officials, there were few people in various places, and nine sheep were herding. Although it was an exaggeration, it was a fact that the salaries of the court were very low. The first rank of the capital official had a salary of nine hundred stones, and the fourth rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the

This treatment is extremely low compared to the officials of the previous dynasty of thousands of stones and tens of thousands of stones. The minimum salary for a county magistrate is only 60 stones per year, and tens of thousands of officials receive only more than 15 million stones per year. In this way, the court often owes the salary. However, officials do not rely solely on their salary. In addition to their annual salary, they also have jobs and land distribution, and rely on the production of jobs and land distribution. Although the officials live not rich, they will not be poor. They can only say that their lives are pretty good.

More than ten years after Kaihuang, due to the merger of prefectures and counties, many redundant officials were reduced. In addition, the increase in taxes in the court, the salaries of officials gradually became richer. Their salaries did not increase, but the increase was their salaries. In the past, the finances of the court were insufficient, and the salaries of officials were only one-tenth of the salaries of the salaries of the court, and the annual expenses of the court were only ten million guan. An official of nine hundred guan had less than ten guan a year. Until now, the salaries of a county magistrate who was 60 guan a year had basically reached 30 guan. At the current price, these guan could buy about 280 guan a year. In other words, the salaries of a county magistrate is equivalent to a fourth-rank high-ranking official in the early years of Kaihuang.

In this way, the total salary of officials in the first year of Daye was 11 million shi, and all the salary was less than that of the early years of Kaihuang, because there were many redundant officials and redundant officials. However, the salary increased greatly, with a total expenditure of more than 6 million shi. In addition to the operation of yamen at all levels, the expenditure was 3 million shi and the expenditure of more than 4 million shi.

The second is the expenditure of the army. The Great Sui Dynasty hid soldiers to the people. Except for the regular army of the 12 Guards in the capital, the rest of the troops were composed of government soldiers. In addition to exemption from corvee labor and tax exemption, if the government soldiers did not fight, they would not receive salary, only the officers would have certain subsidies. This part is paid in one million guan a year, about 500,000 guan a year, and the regular army of the 12 Guards had a total of more than 60,000 people. The minimum-level soldiers had an annual salary of 12 Guan, and with ten guan a total of 1 million guan a month, and about 900,000 guan a month.

Third: The expenses in the inner courtyard of the palace were not invested in the last year because the emperor did not build a large project, and the total amount was less than 2 million guan and hundreds of thousands of stones of rice.

Fourth: Due to the death of the late emperor and the new emperor ascended the throne, the total cost of the two was more than 8 million guan. This part of the cost was extremely large. Most of them were spent on the funeral of the late emperor. The new emperor's ascension ceremony only cost about 2 million guan.

Fifth: The so-called miscellaneous expenses are sudden expenses, such as when encountering various natural disasters in the local area, requesting relief from courts, or encountering foreign invasions, sudden increase in military expenses, and the emperor's rewards to his subjects when encountering happy events.

This part of the cost is extremely high. For example, last year, the invasion of Murong Sanzang and the Turks and Goguryeo, the court had spent nearly 600,000 guan of military expenditure and consumed nearly one million stones of grain. It is not over yet and must continue to spend it. Disaster relief costs about one million stones of grain. Last year, the emperor won over the Turks, and the emperor rewarded the people of the capital to more than 100,000 guan and more than tens of thousands of stones of rice and flour.

In addition to these, there is another example of reward, that is, the Dongyi Prefecture can receive 300,000 guan and 200,000 guan of grain from the court every year as military expenses. In this way, the miscellaneous expenses last year cost a total of 4 million guan, plus more than 3.5 million guan of grain.

Yang Shangxi talked for more than an hour, and his mouth was dry and he talked about the expenses. However, everyone was not tired of hearing such a rare opportunity. After calculation, the court spent a total of 25 million knots and 20 million shi of grain last year. The court's surplus was only 1 million knots, but the grain was too much, a full 8 million shi. However, the price of grain is now low, and the extra grain can only be continued to be stored.

Of course, if the money for the funeral of the predecessor and the new emperor ascends the throne is reduced, the surplus of the court will greatly increase to nine million coins. That is to say, if the court can ensure this surplus for twelve years and invest all the surplus in it, the construction of the Grand Canal will be completed.

Of course this is impossible. The Sui Dynasty has so much surplus, which has really reduced the military expenditure to the extreme. The annual military expenditure is only more than 2 million yuan, accounting for only 10% of the court's expenses. The government system is not a long-term solution after all. So what if it is corrupted and changed to the recruitment system? Thinking about the court in later generations, Yang Yong felt terrible, let alone the surroundings are not calm. As soon as the war occurs, the military expenditure will instigate the increase. Moreover, to implement the imperial examination, education will inevitably be invested greatly, and a lot of money will be removed.

After Yang Shangxi finished speaking, Yang Yong nodded and said, "Everyone understands that Yang Shangshu worked hard for the country and all the accounts are clear. However, he is a rare good official. I will give such good officials a lot of praise."

"I understand." The ministers looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what the emperor meant. The emperor had revealed the intention of building the Grand Canal several times, but today he asked Yang Shangxi to do so. No wonder he really had to squeeze out money from various expenses to build the canal. Of course, the salary of officials is of the most crowded. After all, from the early years of Kaihuang to the present, the salary of officials and the money of the yamen operation alone has increased by 8 million guan. Just one cut can save 4 million guan. In addition, there is no expense for funerals and grand ceremony, it is still possible to raise 10 million guan every year.

It’s just that from frugality to extravagance, from extravagance to frugality, no one wants to cut their salary by half.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say." Lu Mulin stood up.

"Please speak with me, my dear!"

"Report to the emperor, I have a way, that is, I can do not spend too much money, and I can do not engage in corvee labor to solve the labor force for building canals."

With a "stolen", all the officials' eyes focused on Lu Mulin's face. Lu Mulin said calmly: "It's very simple. In the Battle of Mayi last year, our court had more than 20,000 prisoners of Turks and Murong's rebels. These people were released but could not be released. Killing them will hurt the heavenly harmony. Why not use them to build rivers and roads?"
Chapter completed!