The most arrogant in history

Wu Qiong thought for a moment and said with a wry smile:

"That depends on how the emperor spends. If he spends frugally, then it will be enough. If he spends lavishly and throws money around, then it will be very dangerous and the money in the treasury will be spent in a year.

Now we need to extend the railway, connect the four major canals, settle the people and build the prairie, and build the Hexi Corridor. All this money is a bottomless pit. Oh, and we also need to build a new heavy industrial city and a steam engine production center..."

Ye Kun listened impatiently and said with a smile:

"We can still hold out for another year, right? We have a lot of tax revenue in a year, so we just need to be able to continue to develop."

Wu Qiong shook his head:

"Your Majesty, you heard me wrong. What I meant is that even if we can collect all the taxes this year, our money and grain can only last for one year. After one year, the treasury will be out of money."

Ye Kun was shocked: "So, our finances can only last for one year?"

This is a very scary thing.

A year later, the finances will collapse and the empire will be over. Some wealthy regions will start to secede!

Wu Qiong nodded: "Yes, our finances can still sustain for one year, or at most two years."

Ye Kun frowned: "How could this happen? Aren't the taxes and grain we collect increasing every year?"

Wu Qiong sighed, "Your Majesty, I have saved up five years of money, but it was all spent on your expedition to the North Sea. This time, there are 300,000 expeditionary troops, 300,000 logistics and food supplies. The money spent is like a mountain collapsing."

"Is that so?" Ye Kun pondered.

Wu Qiong explained: "Yizhou and Jiangnan both have a lot of food, but the transportation cost is too high to support the food and grass in the north. This time, the food and grass were transported from the Central Plains, Guanzhong and Zhuojun, causing the price of food in the north to rise threefold.

Merchants in the south took advantage of the situation and drove up grain prices, causing a large amount of gold and silver to flow to Jiangnan and Yizhou. As far as I know, some profiteers have made a fortune from selling grain in the past six months. "

Ye Kun breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Wealth will not disappear, it will only be transferred. Now that we know to whom the wealth has been transferred, it will be easy to deal with. The rest will be left to Lord Ma Zhao."

It is too easy to convict businessmen.

What about price gouging, market monopoly, selling inferior goods as good ones, forced buying and selling, speculation and profiteering...

Ma Zhao nodded: "I understand what the emperor means. I have already obtained a lot of evidence and can take action at any time. There are also many corrupt officials all over the country. They are our money warehouses. If you don't have money to spend, ask the corrupt officials for it!"

Ye Kun nodded: "Fighting against corrupt officials is our long-term mission. In the future, we must have zero tolerance for corrupt officials. Even if they embezzle a penny, they must be dismissed and punished!"

Catching corrupt officials is the most cost-effective thing to do.

It can win the hearts of the people and confiscate their property to replenish the national treasury; after the corrupt officials are investigated, they will no longer have pensions, thus reducing the burden on the court.

These days, it is not popular to flee abroad; no matter how much corrupt officials have embezzled, they are locked in their own boxes and cabinets and cannot escape.

For example, Heshen of the Qing Dynasty was said to have embezzled 2 billion taels of silver and his property was eventually raided. However, the money still went into the national treasury and became the property of the court.

Along the way, everyone was talking about money.

He Tiantian sighed and said, "Your Majesty, if it really doesn't work, let's make the scale of the steam engine production center smaller."

"No, the steam engine must be produced on a large scale and cannot be reduced in scale."

Ye Kun rejected He Tiantian's opinion and said, "After returning to the city, we will check the fiscal revenue in detail and then make a decision."

This expedition to the North Sea swept across the Huns, and for Ye Kun, his achievements were comparable to those of the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor Wu.

But this spendthrift is comparable to Emperor Wu of Han.

Several years of savings were wiped out in one war.

The more than one million cattle, sheep and horses looted from the Huns were far from enough to make up for the losses in this war.

Ye Kun also knew that fighting the Huns was a losing business, but he had to fight.

Unless the Huns are defeated, there will be no peace on the northern border.

In front of the imperial city gate, Jiang Yourong, Crown Prince Ye Feng, and all the ladies in the palace were waiting.

Ye Kun got out of the car and took the initiative to walk towards Jiang Yourong, saying with a smile: "I've been gone for half a year, and I'm sorry that the queen and everyone else are worried."

"The Emperor's triumphant return, with great power throughout the land, is also an honor to me, your concubine."

Jiang Yourong smiled and walked up to greet him.

"Your Majesty, please don't be so polite."

Ye Kun supported Jiang Yourong and nodded to everyone: "Everyone, please don't be polite. I will talk to you in Fengyi Palace tonight."

Crown Prince Ye Feng also came forward to pay his respects.

After not seeing him for half a year, this little brat has really grown up, and the childishness on his face has faded a lot.

Ye Kun nodded and asked, "Feng'er, have you made your mother angry in the past six months?"

"I dare not." Ye Feng laughed: "My mother also said that I have been very good in the past six months. When my father comes back, I will ask him to reward me."

"Just being well-behaved doesn't deserve a reward. I need to see what you have done in the past six months before I can decide whether to reward you."

Ye Kun helped Jiang Yourong onto the dragon chariot and said, "Let's go back to the palace."

Everyone followed Ye Kun and returned to the palace together.

Sang Buzhi, Tan Bamao and others also went back home.

After entering Fengyi Palace, Ye Kun first talked to Jiang Yourong, holding her hand and smiling, "Madam, we haven't seen each other for half a year. Are you feeling well? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine, I just miss you."

Jiang Yourong snuggled in Ye Kun's arms: "Look at you as an emperor, fighting wars everywhere, running around everywhere, have you ever enjoyed a day of happiness? Don't work so hard in the future, and have a good rest. After all, you are almost forty years old, you can't compare with young people."

"Thank you for your concern, I'm fine."

Ye Kun helped Jiang Yourong sit down and asked about the children again.

Jiang Yourong nodded: "The children are all fine, but Weiwei was sick and almost died."

"Really? Call Weiwei over later so I can take a look."

Ye Kun asked about the things in the palace again.

Jiang Yourong thought for a moment and said, "The palace is quite peaceful. Everyone is busy with their own things. Every month, we gather in my Fengyi Palace and chat a few times. Only Sister Baochan seems a little listless. She probably misses Chengdu."

“Yeah, I miss Chengdu too.”

Ye Kun looked at Jiang Yourong and said with a smile: "After I finish handling government affairs, I will ask for leave from Sang Buyi and others, and we will go to Chengdu to have some fun together."

Jiang Yourong smiled and said, "I'm just afraid that Sang Buyi and others won't allow you to take leave."

"This time, I'll pay for it myself, not a penny from the court!"

Ye Kun laughed.

The maid brought Weiwei over.

Ye Kun picked up Weiwei and asked with concern: "Weiwei, your mother said that you were sick last time, right? Are you better now?"

"Father, I've recovered a long time ago."

Weiwei hugged Ye Kun's neck and said with a smile: "The doctor said that there are worms in my stomach. I will be fine if I kill them."

Ye Kun asked Jiang Yourong: "What is Weiwei's problem?"

Jiang Yourong frowned and said, "The doctor said, what's the name... bile duct roundworms, the pain is life-threatening, and finally Weiwei was given anesthesia and slept for two days before she gradually got better."