Film and TV starts with acquiring a memory palace

Bianjing.

Zhao Zongquan finally stabilized the court and began to prepare his own reforms.

However, when Zhao Zongquan was preparing to restore the glory of the Song Dynasty with high spirits, he unexpectedly discovered that the Song Dynasty had no money?

Zhao Zongquan, who was somewhat unable to believe it, asked someone to bring the account books of the Song Dynasty's treasury.

After Zhao Zongquan read it carefully, he found that it was actually true.

This made Zhao Zongquan feel paralyzed. Without money, all his previous ambitions were in vain.

In the imperial study, Zhao Zongquan looked at the treasury account book again and again and found that every penny had a place to go and there was really no extra money.

In fact, it is not Zhao Zongquan's fault that he didn't know this. After all, the Song Dynasty was originally a country where the emperor and the literati ruled the country together, so the court had always implemented the policy of high salaries to maintain integrity.

The salaries of the literati were extremely high, and because there were many ethnic minorities around, the military pressure was also very great.

Most of the money in the Song Dynasty's treasury was used in these areas. As for the rest, it was also needed to ensure domestic operations. For example, if a disaster suddenly occurred in a certain place, the treasury would need to allocate funds for disaster relief.

So this part of the money cannot be moved at all, which gives Zhao Zongquan a headache.

As for cutting military spending or reducing officials' benefits, Zhao Zongquan thought about it for a moment and quickly put it out of his mind.

Don't even think about these things. Not to mention the military issues, he doesn't dare to do it at all. Just the welfare of the literati, if he dares to bring it up, it will be a matter of whether he can sit firmly on the throne.

It is not just talk that the emperor and the scholar-officials rule the world together; the Song Dynasty really did it.

"Money, where can I get so much money?"

Zhao Zongquan weakly threw the account book in his hand onto the table and looked up at the ceiling.

The eunuchs in the imperial study looked at Zhao Zongquan with a sad face, but they were helpless. This was the Song Dynasty, not the Ming Dynasty, and these eunuchs were not as powerful as those in the Ming Dynasty.

"Someone, go and invite the gentlemen here."

"Yes."

The eunuch at the door heard what Zhao Zongquan said and ran out immediately.

After a while, several gentlemen rushed to the imperial study.

"I have met Your Majesty."

"No need to be so polite, everyone. I have something to ask you."

"You all know the situation in the Song Dynasty. I want to make some reforms, but now the Song Dynasty has no money. What can I do?"

The gentlemen looked at each other. They had no objection to the reform. After all, they all knew that reform could increase the country's strength, which was a good thing. If it was done well, it would be passed down through the ages. Of course, they would not disagree.

However, the fact that the Song Dynasty is short of money is unavoidable, and there is nothing the gentlemen can do about it.

At this moment, Mr. Han suddenly thought of Gu Tingyu, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"There is such a thing. Does Fusang really have so many silver mines?"

Zhao Zongquan didn't expect that the government had made such an arrangement before. He was so excited that he didn't pay attention to Gu Tingyu's name at all. His mind was full of money.

"Your Majesty, according to the records in ancient books, Fusang is indeed rich in silver mines, but the location of the silver mines is not clearly stated, so I don't know the exact location. Captain Gu mentioned during the palace examination that he had found the location in ancient books, but I don't know the specific situation."

Although there is no specific news yet, Zhao Zongquan now feels like he has grabbed a life-saving straw. As long as there is hope, it is a good thing.

"Quick, bring me the essays from the palace examination and the memorial sent back to the court by Captain Gu. Bring them all here. I want to see them."

Following Zhao Zongquan's order, the eunuchs around immediately rushed to different places and quickly brought these things back.

The essays on the palace examination were the first to be brought in. After all, they were all archived, so they could be directly retrieved.

As for the memorial, it has not been retrieved yet. After all, too many things have happened during this period of time. The officials in the court have no time to care about the memorial from a sixth-rank official. They have no idea where it was put.

Zhao Zongquan didn't care about this matter and had already started reading Gu Tingyu's article seriously.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Han, the solution to the money shortage came from here, right?"

"Your Majesty, that's right. That's why the Emperor arranged for Captain Gu to sail to Japan."

"Well, this person has great talent. In addition to silver mines, coin making technology is also very important."

"Your Majesty, the coin-minting process still needs to be carefully considered. After all, this matter involves a lot of things."

Zhao Zongquan also knew that what Han Xianggong said was right, and he had no intention of insisting on his own way, so he nodded in approval.

After reading this article, Zhao Zongquan became even more anxious about Gu Tingyu's memorial. He urgently wanted to know whether Gu Tingyu had found the silver mine, what the output was like, and whether he could afford the expenses of his reforms.

But after waiting for a long time, no one brought Gu Tingyu's memorial, and Zhao Zongquan's face showed some anger.

"Come here, where is the memorial? Why hasn't it been delivered yet?"

"Your Majesty, we are already looking for it, but it will take some time."

Zhao Zongquan didn't expect that his subordinates were so inefficient. Just as he was about to get angry, he was stopped by Prime Minister Han.

"Your Majesty, this is not the fault of the people below. Too many things have happened during this period of time, so..."

"Okay, let them hurry up."

Zhao Zongquan also realized that the court had changed so much during this period of time that no one paid attention to the memorial of a minor official of the sixth rank. This was why it was necessary to keep the archives, otherwise it would be impossible to find it.

After waiting anxiously for a while, it was finally delivered. Zhao Zongquan quickly took it and read it carefully.

The first memorial briefly described the process of arriving in Fuso after completing the training in Mingzhou, and then searching for the Iwami Silver Mine, as well as the construction of settlements and the recruitment of miners.

The second memorial was a normal report that Gu Tingyu was building defensive fortifications in the mining area, setting up a smelter, and continuing to recruit miners to expand production.

The third memorial finally contained something that interested Zhao Zongquan. It talked about the successful smelting of silver, the resolution of the surrounding lords who coveted the silver mines, and the news that they were preparing to set sail back.

Zhao Zongquan looked at the production described above and the fleet that was returning, and his hands began to tremble with excitement.

"Haha, ok, ok, that's great."

"Your Majesty, is there any good news?"

"Yes, Captain Gu has already smelted the silver, and the last memorial said that they have returned. The silver for the entire fleet was not clearly stated in terms of quantity."

"Your Majesty, this should be to avoid risks. After all, this is all silver."

"Yes, yes, nothing can happen to this money."

Zhao Zongquan also reacted and realized that nothing could happen to the money. It was the capital for his future reforms and nothing could go wrong.