Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 334 The troubled treasury!
Under the leadership of Su Yun, the Ministry of Works began to make preparations for the control of the Yellow River, so large numbers of people were transferred into the Ministry of Works, including clerks and other office staff, as well as a large number of craftsmen, including masters of porcelain firing, kiln building, various agricultural, mining, and blacksmithing. All the top skilled masters from all walks of life were summoned and incorporated into the Ministry of Works' Supervisory Department.

Su Yun actually hoped to set up a separate research institute as the fifth department of the Ministry of Works, but setting up a separate organization would require approval from the imperial court and was not something that the Ministry of Works could decide on its own.

Su Yun had already submitted this application to the Secretariat, but there was no response yet.

However, the Ministry of Works had its own money, and Su Yun did not wait for the approval of the Secretariat, but directly recruited personnel and registered them under the name of the Chief of Works, and things started to go ahead.

Researching and developing cement is the most critical thing at the moment. Su Yun devoted himself to it and led the craftsmen to repeatedly try to produce cement with various proportions.

For this purpose, dozens of lime kilns were built to increase the kiln temperature and produce qualified lime.

The research was certainly difficult and complicated, but with Su Yun's knowledge, cement was finally produced.

However, after trying it out, Su Yun realized that today's cement is slightly inferior to the low-grade cement of later generations.

But this is already a huge improvement. At least when building river embankments and roads, this kind of cement is a qualitative change compared to other materials!
By this time, more than three months had passed. At this time, the staff sent out to investigate the situation of the Yellow River also produced the first draft of the renovation plan.

Su Yun held a meeting with the navy and felt that this plan was very good.

The naval officers of the Song Dynasty put forward many new suggestions, such as building remote dikes (flood-control dikes far away from the main river channel to resist major floods), silk dikes (water-binding dikes close to the river bank to restrain water flow, attack sand and divert water), grid dikes (transversely connecting remote dikes and silk dikes to form grid-like flood retention areas to reduce the impact of floods in sections), water reduction dams (building dams in key river sections to discharge excess water to preset flood retention areas during floods to avoid destroying the main dikes), Qingkou hub (regulating the intersection ratio of the clear water of the Huaihe River and the Yellow River to maintain the effectiveness of clear water in flushing sediment), and other new facilities.

Su Yun didn't know much about water conservancy projects. He only saw some of them while watching short videos in later generations. Of course, he didn't know that these things were very close to the systematic theories of Pan Jixun, a famous master of Yellow River control in the Ming Dynasty.

But this is normal. The Chinese navy is of the same lineage. As long as a theory is put forward, the methods are always the same.

The key here is the law that "when the water is fast, the sand follows the water flow, and when the water is slow, the sand stays." Once this law is understood, it will not be difficult for the navy of the Song Dynasty to formulate a solution.

After making this plan, Su Yun submitted it to the Council of State Affairs.

The issue of river management is not something that can be decided by a single department of the Ministry of Industry, because there are many things involved and it certainly cannot be accomplished by the Ministry of Industry alone.

It's not just about money.

To control the river, it is necessary to allocate various materials and manpower and coordinate local relations. It is naturally impossible to have only one Ministry of Works.

River management would involve labor, which required the cooperation of the Ministry of Revenue;
According to the plan drawn up by the navy, many flood discharge areas need to be set up here, which involves bargaining among various places. After all, no one wants their hometown to become a flood discharge area.

Naturally, coordination and communication are needed with the powerful gentry in various places. This is not something that can be resolved by the Ministry of Industry alone. This matter will even have to be discussed countless times in the Government Affairs Hall, and in the end compensation will have to be made through tax cuts and other means.

As soon as Su Yun submitted his river control plan, Fan Chunren immediately came to the Ministry of Industry.

Su Yun was still in the cement factory outside the city, carefully observing the various technical details after the cement solidified. When he heard the report from the clerk, he hurried back to the city and met Fan Chunren.

As soon as Fan Chunren saw Su Yun, he said, "Your river management plan is not feasible!"

Su Yun was stunned when he heard that, and said, "Which river control expert said it's impossible? My Ministry of Industry has gathered almost all the most powerful water conservancy experts in the dynasty. They brainstormed and conducted field investigations for several months. The final plan, although it is only a rough draft, will definitely be more perfect later." Fan Chunren shook his head and said, "It's not that it's technically impossible. Hi, there are technical issues to discuss. The key is that your river control plan is too big. If we use your plan to control the river, we may have to invest more than half of our annual income this year!
Now that the new law has been abolished, this year's annual registration will be extremely difficult, and you should also be aware of this.

Therefore, there is no way this plan can be implemented.”

Su Yun smiled and said, "We in the Ministry of Industry have our own money. We don't want the court to pay for this river control project, so if it's just this issue, the Political Affairs Hall doesn't need to worry about it."

Fan Chunren shook his head and said, "I am only the Minister of Personnel. I shouldn't say much about the affairs of the Political Affairs Hall. I just came to remind you.

Yes, Juzheng, your Ministry of Industry has had a lot of revenue recently, and someone has set their sights on the money. You need to know this."

Su Yun raised his eyebrows when he heard this and said, "Why, someone wants the Ministry of Industry's money? Who is so bold?"

Fan Chunren shook his head and smiled, saying, "Who else could it be? The officials from the three provinces and six ministries plus the various temples and prefectures all want the Ministry of Works to give up some of the profits. You also know that the treasury is out of money!"

Su Yun frowned immediately. He had not thought about it in this regard before. Obviously, he underestimated the impact that abolishing the new law would have on the court.

Recall that the annual revenue growth before and after the reform was about 30%. Since the new law has been abolished, the decline should be around 30%, or even more than 30%.

After all, when the law is reformed, the previous taxation method needs to be changed. The sudden abolition of the new law requires the taxation method to adapt. During this process, income will naturally decrease.

If calculated based on the annual revenue before the reform, it should fall back to around 40 to 50 million strings of cash!

Even though Su Yun's new underground cave increased the court's income by about 700 to 800 strings of cash, the court was still in deficit!
This year, the court's rigid expenditures are still as high as over 60 million guan. Combined with some miscellaneous expenditures, the court's expenditures this year may still reach more than 70 million guan.

In other words, even if the income from the vegetable kitchen was added, it still couldn't fill the growing hole!
At this time, it is normal for someone to set their sights on the Ministry of Industry's money.

Su Yun raised his eyebrows and said, "I submitted a request for the Ministry of Works to set up a research department, but it has been so long and there has been no response. Has your Ministry of Personnel received it?"

Fan Chunren smiled bitterly and said, "I got it, but this matter was rejected before it even reached the Ministry of Personnel. The court has recently abolished many departments to save money. You should also know this. The general trend now is to abolish the New Law Department. You are applying to add a new Yasi at this time. This is definitely not allowed!"

Su Yun nodded and said, "Regarding the river management plan, the Political Affairs Hall should not have come to an official conclusion yet, right?"

Fan Chunren shook his head and said, "No, but the discussion was quite intense. Tomorrow is the morning court session, and there will probably be people questioning you during the court session. You need to be careful."

Su Yun quickly bowed to Fan Chunren to express his gratitude.

Fan Chunren shook his head and left.

Su Yun became more alert. He had previously ignored the impact of the abolition of the new law, but now he was reminded of it.

It is foreseeable that the court's finances will be particularly tight this year, and even the salaries of officials may be suspended. Under such circumstances, if the Ministry of Works is the only wealthy one, other government offices will certainly be dissatisfied, and the court will definitely find ways to dig money from it!

This matter requires careful consideration!
(End of this chapter)