Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 378 The Old Pixiu!
After numerous personnel changes were finalized, rewarding those who had rendered meritorious service became the most pressing task at hand.

Liu Bian ordered Gao Wang to summon Cao Song.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture, now remarkably thin, entered the Yuntai Pavilion with an air of accusation. Several ministers from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices came forward to greet him, but he seemed not to hear them and walked straight past, leaving them looking at each other in bewilderment.

Upon reaching the second floor of the Yuntai Pavilion, Cao Song, who had been so fierce just moments before, took a few steps before the Emperor's desk and suddenly knelt down with a thud, trembling with sobs as he cried out, "My country, I am suffering! The national treasury is so empty that horses could run through it!"

Liu Bian was engrossed in reviewing the governance strategies of several Grand Secretaries of the Imperial Academy regarding the four southern prefectures when the sudden commotion startled him so much that his wrist trembled, causing his vermilion brush to fall to the ground, spilling a few drops of bright red ink that stained his sleeve.

Liu Bian took a deep breath, suppressing the displeasure rising in his heart, and coldly glanced at Cao Song kneeling on the ground.

Ever since this old Pixiu took over the national treasury, it has practically treated it as the Cao family's private treasury.

It doesn't mean that Cao Song embezzled public funds, but rather that he would scrutinize every request for funding from various government offices and local prefectures repeatedly, paying meticulous attention to every penny.

If it was a request for funding for engineering or construction projects, he would send officials from the Ministry of Agriculture to the local area to verify the information and provide a budget report. Under the premise of ensuring quality, he would never approve even a single extra coin.

Back when Cao Cao was serving as the governor of Qingzhou, he wanted to reclaim more wasteland and build more water conservancy and roads, but the funds he submitted were all rejected by Cao Song without any mercy.

In recent years, Cao Cao served as General of Anbei and Governor of Youzhou. As a strategic border region, Youzhou had a standing army of three to five thousand soldiers in each prefecture, with an annual military expenditure of nearly 2 million coins.

The Tanhan Camp and Yuyang Camp stationed in Youzhou cost nearly 1 million coins a year.

The total annual military expenditure of Youzhou reached 3 million coins!

That's fine, after all, the total military expenditure of 300 million is a necessary expenditure of the national treasury.

However, Cao Cao personally funded the formation of two thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, with annual expenses of about thirty million for the men and horses, all of which came from the private treasury of the Cao family in Qiao Commandery.

Especially the configuration of one person and three horses, even though Youzhou is rich in fine horses, it still cost a full 70 million coins to purchase warhorses!

Two thousand elite cavalrymen cost the Cao family a staggering 1 million coins last year!

This angered Cao Song so much that he almost severed ties with Cao Cao, and he even refused to give Cao Cao a kind look at the family banquet during the New Year.

According to Cao Song, back then, when official positions were sold, even if I bought a position as one of the Three Dukes, it would only cost me 1 million coins!

Although these words were inappropriate, Liu Bian did not delve into them further. After all, it was a private matter for the Cao family, and they could handle it behind closed doors. As the emperor, he did not care.

But now that I've sent troops to quell the rebellion, you old scoundrel dare to bargain with me?!

They either hoped he would win a quick victory, or they used the pretext that suppressing rebellions mostly involved siege warfare to encourage Liu Bian to leave the elite cavalry and guerrilla battalions in Luoyang to save on military expenses.

Is this the national treasury of the Han Dynasty, or the private treasury of your Cao family?!
If Cao Song hadn't been honest and upright after taking office, and hadn't genuinely saved the court a large amount of financial expenditure, and hadn't been diligent and conscientious during his tenure, Liu Bian really wanted to immediately dismiss and investigate this old scoundrel.

Faced with Cao Song's complaints, Liu Bian suppressed his turbulent thoughts, frowned slightly, looked at Cao Song below who still had a bitter face, and said, "It is now October, and taxes from all over the country should have been paid in full. Even those from Jiaozhou should have arrived in Luoyang by now. How can the national treasury be short of money?"

As he spoke, he precisely pulled out a memorial from the pile on his desk, pointed to the numbers on it, and said, "In the second year of the Hanxing era, the court, with the help of the Maritime Trade Office, completely centralized the salt and iron trade, and also brought the trade in wine, silk, and grain under control. The tax revenue increased by 18 billion coins compared to 67 billion coins in the first year, reaching a high of 85 billion coins." "This is a memorial signed and sealed by you, the Grand Minister of Agriculture. Are you trying to deny it?" Liu Bian's gaze swept over Cao Song again, now carrying a hint of scrutiny.

Upon hearing this, Cao Song hurriedly looked up and explained, gesturing unconsciously with his hands in front of him: "Reporting to the nation, taxes are indeed steadily increasing, but the court's expenditures are also rising accordingly! Just the salaries of officials alone require a reserve of 20 billion coins; the daily operations of various prefectures and kingdoms require another 25 billion coins. These two items already account for more than half of this year's tax revenue!"

Immediately afterwards, he began to calculate the accounts for the emperor, item by item.

The nine battalions stationed in northern Bingzhou—Linrong Camp, Duhe Camp, Yunzhong Camp, and Baideng Camp; Tanhan Camp and Yuyang Camp stationed in Youzhou; Liyang Camp, which guards the Yellow River crossing but has been temporarily transferred to Jizhou to suppress the Black Mountain bandits; and Yong Camp and Chang'an Camp stationed in the Three Auxiliary Regions—totaled 45,000 troops.

Although their treatment could not compare with that of the Central Army, it was not much worse. Moreover, being stationed in a harsh and cold place, their actual annual expenses were no less than those of the Fifth Battalion of the Central Army stationed in Luoyang, amounting to a full 6 million coins.

The military expenditures of the border prefectures far exceeded those of the prefectures in the Central Plains. The military expenditures of the 29 prefectures, including the ten prefectures of Youzhou, the nine prefectures of Bingzhou, and the ten prefectures of Liangzhou, were not something that Youzhou and Bingzhou could bear on their own. The military expenditures amounted to about 600 million coins.

The remaining seventy-six commanderies and kingdoms of the Han Dynasty had military expenditures of 3 million coins.

To maintain the daily operations of each state and county, the country's 105 counties and states require approximately 25 billion.

In the second year of the Han Dynasty, the tax revenue of 85 billion coins, after deducting 20 billion coins for officials' salaries, 25 billion coins for the daily operation of various prefectures and kingdoms, and 15 billion coins for the military expenses of the nine battalions directly under the imperial court and the troops of various prefectures and kingdoms, actually left a surplus of only 27 billion coins.

Before the national treasury received taxes in the second year of the Han Dynasty, it had only 27 billion coins left, of which 10 billion coins were used to pacify the four southern commanderies and Chen Commandery.

To pacify the four counties in the south, 40,000 soldiers and 240,000 laborers were conscripted from Yizhou, with six people supporting one person in logistics to maintain normal logistical transport.

The army was replenished with grain and fodder from Yizhou. About 20% of the grain and fodder was lost during transport. The campaign lasted eight months and consumed a total of 8.7 million shi of grain, 12,000 jin of alum for water purification, and other supplies such as insect repellent, medicinal herbs, dogwood, Sichuan pepper, and firewood. The total cost of military funds was 550 million coins.

The pacification of Chen Commandery required 44,000 central troops, 47,000 men from the Sanhe region, 19,000 soldiers from the commandery and state, and 200,000 laborers.

The food allowance for soldiers in the central army was six shi of grain per person per month, the food allowance for good families in Sanhe was five shi per person per month, and the food allowance for soldiers in the prefectures and kingdoms was three shi per person per month.

Thanks to the convenient inland canal transport, only about 10% of the grain was lost during transport. The war lasted four months and consumed a total of 5.2 million shi of grain. Including other miscellaneous military expenses, the total cost was 450 million coins.

These two very short battles, whether due to their scale or geography, consumed military resources no less than a protracted war.

"The national treasury now has only 42 billion yuan left."

As Cao Song reported the accounts, his heart seemed to be bleeding, as if the money burned by the court was all his Cao family's money. He said, "If the country is to launch a northern expedition in three years, it will inevitably need to accumulate a large amount of money and grain. I'm afraid that now, let alone accumulating money and grain, it is difficult to even maintain the daily operation of the court!"

Liu Bian took a deep breath. Cao Song was good at managing accounts and could ensure his own integrity, but he could only believe about 60 or 70% of what Cao Song said when he complained.

Military operations are not just about expenses; they also bring benefits!
The four prefectures of Nanzhong are rich in gold, silver, copper and iron mines. Therefore, the Nanzhong barbarians also have a large amount of gold and silver among their stored goods. If all the spoils were converted into five-zhu coins, even after deducting the soldiers' personal spoils, the amount would be about 2 million coins.

The spoils from Chenjun were even more plentiful. Liu Chong had amassed a great deal of wealth during his rebellion. In addition, Liu Bian's purge of Chenliu County and the complete annihilation of almost all the powerful families in Chenjun resulted in the confiscated assets amounting to a staggering 50 billion coins when converted into five-zhu coins!

This old Pixiu wasn't really feigning poverty; it had clearly been eyeing these two huge hauls for a long time!
(End of this chapter)