The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1068: Political Discussion in the Imperial Study (Part )
"Actually, the previous deficit, uh..."

Xiao Yu was afraid that Li Yan didn't understand, so he reminded him: "Even the deficit that the emperor mentioned is handled in this way. It is passed on to the people every year and digested silently. And as far as I know, it's not just us, but the courts of all dynasties have handled it this way."

"Is this the right way to deal with it? Besides, it's fine if it's a good year, but what if it's a bad year?"

Li Yan refuted unhappily, "At the end of the third year of Zhenguan, the court had to forcibly send troops to attack Jie Li despite years of famine. As a result, the people could not bear it, which led to rebellions of varying scales in various places."

"If it weren't for Li Jing's surprise attack on the front line, he would have quickly defeated Jie Li."

"As long as the war drags on for half a year, the Tang Dynasty will be in danger. The people in the rear who cannot bear the heavy burden will be able to overthrow the Tang Dynasty."

"Today, the northern Turks are even stronger than they were back then. I have heard from the Jinyiwei that in the Irtysh River Valley alone, there are no less than 300,000 elite troops of the Right Wise King gathered all year round. In Urge, where the Great Khan Shiluodi is located, there are also 200,000 standing cavalry."

"These alone amount to half a million, which means that the North can mobilize millions of cavalry to invade the south at any time."

"As for our Tang Dynasty, due to the continuous expansion over the years, the troops have long been dispersed to various places for garrison. The interior is very empty. There are only 300,000 or 400,000 troops in Guanzhong. The entire northern front, including the local garrisons, has less than one million troops."

"If the Turks move south, what will we do to deal with them?"

The ministers were startled, and then they remembered that the Tang Dynasty was still far from being a single superpower and having internal strife behind closed doors.

After years of peaceful coexistence between the two countries, everyone subconsciously stopped considering the threat from the north. When Li Yan mentioned it, they were suddenly shocked to find that there was such a ferocious tiger next to their bed.

These people, the Turks and the Tang Dynasty had frequent trade exchanges, and their cooperation in other areas was also very smooth.

Especially the vast area in the northwest, which is comparable to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, was sold to the Tang Dynasty by the Turks through transactions. On the one hand, it made the Tang Dynasty very large, but on the other hand, could it be a conspiracy of the Turks?

Deliberately let the Tang Dynasty take these places. The more land the Tang Dynasty has, the heavier its burden will be. In order to digest these territories, the Tang Dynasty's resources will flow to various places continuously, and the army will be sent to all directions.

In the end, like the Qin Dynasty, it was internally weak.

Thinking of this, all the ministers were sweating profusely, their bodies were shaking like sieves, and they felt their hearts were about to jump out of their throats. Could it be that the Tang Dynasty really fell into the trap of the Turks? Then the Turks' move must have hidden a huge conspiracy that was enough to destroy the Tang Dynasty.

Seeing everyone's faces change, it was obvious that they had thought of something. Li Yan continued, "The safety of the Tang Dynasty depends on our own strength. Only by fighting can we make peace. We have been at peace for a long time. I can say this without exaggeration."

"The peace of our Great Tang today is based on the fact that the Right Wise King is unwilling to go south."

"If the Right Wise King really invades the south regardless of everything, without mobilizing other herdsmen, relying only on the standing forces in those two places, my Tang Dynasty may not be able to resist? With the current available financial resources of the court, we cannot support a full-scale war."

"That's why I have to raise a huge amount of money from the nobles by issuing currency, just in case of emergency. If it really comes to an emergency, we can use the money from the Finance Temple to defend our country."

"After we win the war, we can get some money from the Turks to make up for the shortfall. We won't have to force the people when the time comes and foreign threats are heavy, causing unrest outside and internal turmoil. Many times, a country dies in this way."

"This department can infinitely increase Datang's ability to resist risks. It is Datang's trump card. With enough money and food, everyone won't have to worry about anything in the next few years. Even sleeping will be much more peaceful."

Hearing this, several important officials nodded in agreement. If they had given other reasons, it would have been fine. They still had excuses to refuse. When it comes to the northern Turks, people usually don't talk about it, but everyone feels like there is a big stone pressing on their hearts.

A powerful and unified nomadic state was hanging over the head of the Tang Dynasty. Although the Tang Dynasty seemed prosperous, it was actually facing tremendous pressure at all times.

When Li Shimin was making arrangements for his final arrangements, the people he was most worried about were the Turks.

If there had been no solution before, everyone would have just muddled along, believing that if the sky fell, there would be someone higher to support it. But now there is such a good solution, which can strengthen the central power of the court and raise a large amount of emergency forces. Who would be willing to give it up?

So several important officials began to re-examine the strategy proposed by Li Yan.

Cen Wenben asked with concern: "Your Majesty, you just said that the function of social operation can be regulated by issuing and withdrawing treasure notes. How is it regulated? And what is the basis for issuing and withdrawing?"

Li Yan was overjoyed to see that everyone was truly relieved and had begun to enter the practical stage.

He asked Wang De to bring a bunch of things over, and several people gathered around the imperial desk. Li Yan began to popularize economic knowledge, which he himself only had a rough understanding of, to the ministers.

He first took three blank pieces of paper and placed them in the middle, then picked up a pen and wrote the word "壹贯" on each of them. Then he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's assume that this is the three 贯 of treasure notes issued by the court, and one piece of paper represents one 贯 of money." "For every one 贯 of money issued, the Finance Temple will take back one tael of silver. Do you understand this?" After that, Li Yan took out three ingots of one tael of silver and placed them behind the three pieces of paper, one after another, so that it was clear at a glance.

Seeing everyone nodded, Li Yan took out three more eggs and placed them in front of the three pieces of paper, also one-on-one.

"Assume that the value of an egg in the market is one guan of money. In a healthy system, one guan of treasure money corresponds to one egg. At the same time, it also corresponds to one ingot of silver. However, in the real market, this amount will increase countless times."

Several people looked concerned. What Li Yan said was not complicated, so everyone nodded in understanding.

Then, Li Yan took out three more pieces of paper, wrote the word "guan" on them, put them in the middle, and began to ask tentatively: "Suppose, if the number of eggs did not increase, and the court issued three more guan of money, what would be the final result?"

"Your Majesty, I guess, if this is the case, then each egg will be worth two strings of money. In fact, the treasure notes will depreciate." Ma Zhou said tentatively.

"Yes, Master Ma is right."

The young people reacted quickly. The old guys were still puzzled. Ma Zhou thought of the connection. Li Yan nodded in appreciation and said, "If the court prints treasure notes disorderly without increasing supplies, it will lead to the depreciation of treasure notes."

"If it depreciates to a certain extent, it will become real waste paper. Accordingly, it will lose its currency function in the minds of the people and may eventually be completely abandoned."

"Therefore, the court must not issue banknotes indiscriminately. They must correspond to the actual materials."

At this point, Li Yan picked up the three pieces of paper he had just put down, put down three eggs, and asked again: "If this is the case, what is the problem?"

"In this case, three strings of money correspond to six eggs, which means that one string of money can buy two eggs. Does this mean that the treasure notes are valuable?" Liu Bo was very unhappy when he saw that Ma Zhou had just been in the limelight, so he spoke first this time.

"Yes, Lord Liu is right."

Li Yan concluded: "So, through this simple case, everyone can discover a general rule. These three factors must be balanced. If there are more materials, the treasure notes will appreciate, which also means that the money circulating in the market is not enough."

"At this time, the court should issue more treasure notes and circulate them in the market to stabilize the value of the treasure notes."

Liu Bo subconsciously asked, "Your Majesty, why do you want to issue more? Isn't it a good thing that the treasure notes have appreciated? This means that the money we issue can buy more things. Why do we need to suppress it again?"

"No, both appreciation and depreciation must be maintained at a tiny level that is invisible to the naked eye. It is very important to maintain the stability of the three and the balance of economic development."

Li Yan said with a stern face: "Have you ever thought about whose extra things you bought belonged to? These things did not come out of thin air. They are all the blood and sweat of the people. Ordinary people worked hard to farm the land for a year. Before, one mu of grain could be sold for one tael of silver. Now, two mu of grain can only be sold for one tael of silver."

"Relative to the appreciation of the treasure notes, has their grain depreciated?"

"The depreciation of banknotes affects the credit of the imperial court, but the depreciation of materials can cost them their lives. This is a heavy disaster for them."

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of several people who had the same idea before changed. Low grain prices hurt farmers, and such a drastic change in the currency value would only make the people miserable and live in dire straits.

"It seems that whether the treasure notes appreciate or depreciate, it is disadvantageous."

Xiao Yu said quickly: "If the change is small and slow enough, the impact will not be great. If it rises and falls suddenly, the people will not be able to survive. I see. The court must ensure that the currency value is stable and does not fluctuate greatly. Only in this way can it maintain a healthy state."

"It seems that the issuance of this treasure banknote is indeed a powerful tool for governing the country, but we must be cautious and not treat social stability as a joke. We must use it with caution."

"Master Xiao is right."

Seeing that everyone had understood the truth, Li Yan nodded with a smile and said, "If society is stable and developing, the court needs to issue new treasure notes to stabilize the currency value. The number of newly issued treasure notes is a reflection of the increase in social wealth."

"Of course, it can also be seen as the profits gained by the court from the prosperous market."

"The court can use this profit to supplement the treasury by issuing treasure notes, or use it to repair canals, dig wells to fight drought, build highways and other livelihood projects, and the people will also benefit."

"So, as long as we manage the country well, we don't have to levy taxes at all, and we can still easily and reasonably obtain the added value of the benefits of the entire society."

(End of this chapter)