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

Chapter 699: The Financial Situation of the Tang Dynasty

Wei Zheng also discovered that as the princes grew up, especially in recent times, the King of Shu had been fighting against the Crown Prince. He was openly and covertly against the Crown Prince. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that the King of Shu had coveted the throne and was after the Crown Prince's position.

It would be weird if the prince didn't take precautions.

As for whether what Li Yan said was true or false, Wei Zheng had no doubt. The letter of accusation and the prince arrived at the mansion one after another, so there was no need for the prince to deceive himself.

However, what Wei Zheng is worried about now is not these details, but whether the content of the report letter is true?

"Then Your Highness, is the content of this letter true or false? I hope Your Highness can give me an answer."

"It's fake. Basically, everything above is fake." Li Yan denied it flatly. When Wei Zheng heard it, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Before anyone could say anything, Li Yan said, "A Zhonglang Jiang only gets 10 strings of cash, and a Lang Jiang gets 6 strings of cash. This is sheer nonsense. Is this the Flying Tiger Army? The emperor relies on this important trump card. This price is simply a slap in my face."

Well.
Wei Zheng was a little confused by Li Yan. So you think the price is too low?
Li Yan threw the letter of complaint aside with disdain, then took out a thick account book from his bosom and handed it to Wei Zheng: "This is the real transaction price and details of all the military positions sold by the Flying Tiger Army. Since you are interested, why not take a look at it."

Wei Zheng's mind was in a mess. He took the account book stupidly and started to look at it!

I just read the beginning and was shocked. My eyes were as big as copper bells, my mouth was wide open, and an incredible look appeared on my face: "Front Guard Lieutenant General Hu Lixian 100 million strings of cash, Left Guard Lieutenant General Liang Sijin 100 million strings of cash, Right Guard Lieutenant General Zhou Yande 100 million strings of cash, and Center Guard Lieutenant General Luo Ensheng 100 million strings of cash."

"Hu San, the left general of the left guard, received 60 strings of cash; Zhou Yansi, the right general of the left guard, received 60 strings of cash; and the left general of the left guard, received strings of cash.'

Behind them were dozens of senior generals of the Flying Tiger Army and hundreds of middle and low-level generals. In total, a colonel received 30 strings of coins, a brigade commander received 10 strings of coins, and under them were team leaders and fire captains. Even ordinary soldiers received between two hundred and six hundred strings of coins.

Wei Zheng felt as if struck by lightning. His lips trembled and his hands shook. He turned the pages more and more anxiously, and finally turned directly to the last page. He saw that the total amount of silver and money was as high as 19 million strings of cash.

This terrifying number, like a heavy weight, instantly hit Wei Zheng's fragile nerves. Wei Zheng's eyes turned white, he felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground.

Finally, with a last glimmer of hope, he looked up at Li Yan and asked, "Your Highness, it's late at night, you must be joking with me?"

Li Yan slowly shook his head, and his words shattered Wei Zheng's last hope: "No, this is all true. Among them, all the income of Langjiang and above, 13 million guan, has been received by the East Palace, and the other millions of guan are in the hands of those Zhonglangjiang."

Li Yan took away Liu Rengui's one million strings of cash. Firstly, the matter involved Prince of Lu Li Yuanchang, who was a member of the royal family. If he was involved, it would be difficult for Li Shimin to deal with him. Secondly, after observing Liu Rengui for some time, Li Yan found that Liu Rengui was mature and steady, and was still a good person, so he was worth protecting.

Apart from him, none of the officers and soldiers under him received any money, which made the final total amount a little less than 20 million strings of cash.

The Prince of Lu was his elder and had always supported him. It was just a mere one million strings of cash, which he gave and accepted by himself. As long as it was not recorded in the account books and was not found out, it would not be a big deal and Liu Rengui would not seek death by telling others about it.

Even if Li Shimin knew about it, it wouldn't matter because we are all family.

It just so happened that Li Yan was also short of money. The one million strings of cash that Li Shimin had given him had all been spent, and he needed funds to support the development of the Zhenfu Division.

Besides, since I have raised so much funds for Li Shimin this time, I should get some commission. The emperor does not lack hungry soldiers, so I will have to take the blame myself next time.
“Oh my god?
Wei Zheng looked at Li Yan's indifferent expression, and could no longer suppress his anger. He looked up to the sky and wept, "Nineteen million strings of cash. The annual income of the entire Tang treasury is only more than thirty million strings of cash. This sum of money takes up most of the treasury."

"It's really shocking. Throughout history, there has never been a case involving so much money. What can we do about this? If it were to be exposed, I'm afraid that the newly stabilized Tang Dynasty would fall into chaos again."

Seeing that Wei Zheng was already somewhat distracted, Li Yan calmly said, pulling Wei Zheng back from the brink of the devil: "My Lord, why are you so anxious? Father is not anxious, so what are you worried about?"

"What."

Wei Zheng rushed to Li Yan in a panic, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw, and asked hopefully, "Your Highness, do you mean that the Emperor also knows about this?"

"Father is not a puppet emperor at the end of a dynasty. He is a wise and powerful emperor. How could he not know about something like this happening right under his nose?"

Li Yan did not answer directly, but pointed to the account book in Wei Zheng's hand and said: "Almost 80% of the officers and soldiers have spent money. The matter has become so sensational that I am afraid that all the officials in Chang'an are aware of it. If the emperor still doesn't know about it, then he is the emperor in vain." In Wei Zheng's puzzled eyes, Li Yan stared at him tightly and said slowly: "But, up to now, the emperor has not summoned me to the palace to ask about this matter. This afternoon in the Flying Tiger Army tent, the emperor did not mention this matter. Do you know why?"

Wei Zheng was stunned, and after a little thought, he understood what Li Yan meant. The emperor knew about this matter, but he could not know it.

"why is that?"

The shock he received today was so great that Wei Zheng no longer wanted to speculate and asked directly.

Li Yan's expression became serious, and he uttered four words: "Because of military expenses!"

"Because of military expenses?"

Wei Zheng repeated it subconsciously, and was suddenly stunned. Then he understood what Li Yan meant. Could it be?

Li Yan said slowly: "Your Excellency knows that the court has been accumulating money and grain in recent years, preparing for a war against the Turks. But in the three years since my father ascended the throne, the Tang Dynasty has suffered disasters year after year, either natural disasters within the country or man-made disasters on the border. The military supplies accumulated in the treasury are not enough to fight a war."

"Father had no choice but to raise taxes on the people. Over the past six months, Father has repeatedly mentioned raising taxes, but was dissuaded by you."

"But the Turkic invasion of the border is becoming more and more rampant. They are consuming the Tang Dynasty and not giving it a chance to recuperate. Father wants to fight against foreign enemies first and then stabilize the country. He has made up his mind to launch a campaign against the Turkic this winter and next spring."

"Increasing taxes on the people is inevitable. Can you stop it, sir?"

Seeing Wei Zheng frowning and looking worried, Li Yan said, "Although the court has accumulated some military resources in the past few years, it is not certain how long it can last. If it becomes a protracted war, all the grassland peoples will be soldiers, and they can fight to support the war. They just need to avoid my edge and drag it out."

"If we don't reduce the power for two or three years, in just half a year, the Tang Dynasty will collapse. By then, internal and external troubles will erupt at the same time, and the Tang Dynasty will be in danger of extinction. Didn't the Sui Dynasty lose the world because of its conquest of Goguryeo, which led to internal chaos?"

Seeing that Wei Zheng was listening intently, Li Yan continued to analyze, "Well, even if our Tang Dynasty has amazing combat power and wins the battle, the aftermath of the war is what will consume a huge amount of money and food. The families of the soldiers who died in the war must be compensated, and the court cannot ignore the injured and disabled. The conquered territories must be garrisoned and soldiers must be sent to guard and govern. The soldiers who were forced to surrender must be incorporated, and the people must bear the cost of food and clothing to survive."

Li Yan asked sternly, "Sir Wei, is the little wealth accumulated in the national treasury enough? After the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there are many expenses to be paid. The tax burden on the people is already high. If more taxes are levied, the pressure on the people will be even greater."

"Besides, how much more will it take to solve the package of troubles that the Tang Dynasty is about to face, unless you can persuade my father not to fight this war?"

The problem Li Yan mentioned is the main contradiction facing the Tang Dynasty at this stage. Although the court officials have reached a consensus on conquering the Turks, the pressure on logistics and food is still not optimistic. Even so, Wei Zheng still has to calculate the needs of the war.

The post-war reconstruction issue that Li Yan just mentioned was a huge deficit. Thinking of the military expenditure issue that Li Yan just mentioned, Wei Zheng was stunned. The sin that he felt was as heavy as a mountain in his hand suddenly became the life-saving straw of the Tang Dynasty.

Wei Zheng asked tremblingly, "Your Highness, do you mean that the corruption problem in the Flying Tiger Army was secretly instigated by the Emperor in order to solve the problem of military funds needed for the Northern Expedition?"

"No, Father didn't mean that!"

Li Yan said decisively: "Father is the emperor, and his every move should be a model for the world. How could he do such a thing? He didn't know that the Flying Tiger Army had so many problems from the beginning to the end. It was me, the prince, who acted on my own and let the tutors below control it privately."

After hearing this, Wei Zheng understood everything. Although the prince kept saying that it had nothing to do with Li Shimin, Wei Zheng was not a fool. How could a young boy accomplish such a big thing?
As an important official, Wei Zheng was well aware of the financial situation of the Tang Dynasty. Although the total annual income of the Tang Dynasty treasury was more than 30 million strings of cash, that did not mean that the money was left untouched. The expenditure just to maintain the normal operation of the huge official system exceeded 2 million strings of cash.

In addition, there was the construction of water-powered farmland from the central government to local areas, the improvement of various facilities, support and relief for disaster victims in various places, maintenance of roads and canals from Chang'an to local areas, and so on.

The annual expenditure was as high as more than 40 million guan, and the deficit was nearly 10 million!

For example, the maintenance of the Grand Canal and the reinforcement of the embankments on both sides of the Yellow River required the imperial court to spend no less than five million strings of cash every year.

(End of this chapter)