This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Cheng Jun asked, puzzled, "Does Your Majesty think there's a problem with my solution that achieves the best of all three goals?"

"It's not just a problem, it's a big one!"

Li Shimin said with a serious expression, "Do you think I wouldn't have thought of a solution like not abolishing the monthly salary?"

"The purpose of implementing the public office capital system and setting up money-collecting officials was to provide monthly salaries to all officials."

"If we abolish them now, where will the monthly salary come from? Where will the money come from?"

Li Shimin explained to him, “There are more than seventy departments and more than six hundred money collectors in the capital. Each person starts by releasing 50,000 coins at the beginning of the year and can recover nearly 100,000 coins by the end of the year, including interest.”

"I won't tell you how much money they can amass in a year, I'll just tell you in a month. Each money collector can collect 4,000 coins in interest per month, and all of them together can collect 2.4 million coins per month."

"According to what you said, abolishing the public office capital system and abolishing the money-collecting clerks, but continuing to pay monthly salaries, will force the court to spend at least 2.4 million coins more each month. The Ministry of Revenue is a real tightwad. When they hear this news, they will surely come to me and remonstrate on the grounds of empty treasury. Wouldn't I then be speechless?"

Li Shimin grew increasingly angry as he spoke, raising the back of his right hand to slap his left palm, and said, "To take it a step further, where will the deficit caused by distributing monthly salaries come from?"

"I can't possibly pay for it, can I? If I do, is this problem solved by you? It's something I'll solve out of my own pocket, it has nothing to do with you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shimin saw Cheng Jun smile and his heart tightened.

Have I gotten caught up in this mess again?

Li Shimin immediately thought about it and realized that what he said made no problem, so he glared at him and said, "What are you laughing at?"

Cheng Jun suppressed his smile and said earnestly, "The reason I smiled was because I was happy. Your Majesty's consideration of this matter is truly a blessing for the people of our Great Tang Dynasty. You are a benevolent ruler who deserves the title!"

Li Shimin narrowed his eyes. He had to admit that this kid's compliments really made him feel good.

"Don't praise me. No amount of praise will solve this problem!"

Li Shimin waved his hand and said.

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty has said so much, and I understand. The key to this problem actually lies in catching money, isn't that right?"

"Yes!"

Cheng Jun then asked, "If the imperial court could spend an additional 2.4 million coins each month, and this money did not go through the Ministry of Revenue or His Majesty's inner court, would this problem be solved?"

"That's right!"

Cheng Jun asked again, "To put it more clearly, is it that as long as someone can get 2.4 million coins every month, this problem can be solved?"

“Isn’t this exactly the duty of the money-collecting clerk?” Li Shimin’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone around in circles and are finally trying to persuade me not to abolish the money-collecting clerk position?”

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "I am the one who submitted the memorial to abolish the money-collecting clerk, but now I am not allowing Your Majesty to abolish it. Wouldn't that be me slapping myself in the face?"

Li Shimin said somewhat angrily, "Can you stop beating around the bush and just tell me the solution? You're making me dizzy!"

"Then I will speak frankly."

Cheng Jun said, enunciating each word clearly, "I'll just go and get the money, won't that solve the problem?"

"You're going to catch the money?"

Li Shimin was somewhat surprised.

Cheng Jun straightened up, cupped his hands, and solemnly said, "I hope Your Majesty will entrust me with the task of accumulating wealth; if I fail, then punish me."

These words sounded somewhat familiar... Li Shimin pondered the words. They came from the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops." This kid was quoting the "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops" to show that he was as loyal to the Han Dynasty as Zhuge Liang was, and devoted to the public good?

Li Shimin frowned and said, "You are a censor, how can you deal with money?"

Cheng Jun countered, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue manages the imperial treasury and is also dealing with money. Does Your Majesty think they are wrong?"

Li Shimin said, "Of course they are not wrong, but the money collectors who extort money from the people are wrong! This is why I am determined to abolish the money collectors!"

"Your Majesty dismissed the officials in charge of collecting money not because they were extorting money from the people, but because in the process of extorting money from the people, they caused the people to die, be injured, and have their families destroyed!"

Cheng Jun held up three fingers and said solemnly, "When I go to collect money, it will not harm the people, nor will it diminish Your Majesty's benevolence, and it will benefit the court."

Li Shimin finally understood.

It turns out that from the very beginning, this kid's solution was to have him catch the money.

Li Shimin was somewhat embarrassed and annoyed by his evasive question, and deliberately asked, "Minister Cheng, according to you, is there a way to raise money for the court so that the monthly salaries of all officials can continue until the end of the year?"

"Yes."

Li Shimin snorted and said, "You just said that monthly salary is good, that it's about keeping the benefits and eliminating the harms, so why make it only exist at the end of the year? Why not just continue it indefinitely?"

Cheng Jun thought for a moment and said, "Then we need to change the monthly salary system."

This kid really has a way... Hearing him say that, Li Shimin was a little surprised. He had just deliberately made things difficult for him and didn't think there was any solution. Now, hearing Cheng Jun say this, he immediately sat up straight, looked at him with a serious expression, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Cheng Jun slowly said, "As Your Majesty also knows, the salaries of officials in our Great Tang Dynasty are mainly based on rice, manpower, official land, monthly miscellaneous allowances, and monthly stipends. The amount of salary decreases from high to low according to the official rank."

"Among them, the monthly salary was 7,800 coins for a first-rank official, 6,000 coins for a second-rank official, 5,100 coins for a third-rank official, 4,200 coins for a fourth-rank official, 3,600 coins for a fifth-rank official, 2,400 coins for a sixth-rank official, 2,100 coins for a seventh-rank official, 1,600 coins for an eighth-rank official, and 1,300 coins for a ninth-rank official."

“One person from each of the seventh to ninth ranks, the three of them together receive a monthly salary of 5,000 coins. In the third rank of the court, one person receives a monthly salary of 5,100 coins.”

Cheng Jun analyzed: "In other words, the monthly salary of a third-rank official can support four ninth-rank officials, three eighth-rank officials, and two seventh-rank officials."

"Wait a minute!" Li Shimin raised his hand to interrupt him, saying, "Is it possible to use the monthly salary of a third-rank minister to provide for officials below the seventh rank? That's 5,100 coins. Do you think a third-rank minister would refuse his monthly salary?"

Cheng Jun said seriously, "Therefore, the first key point in changing the monthly salary system is to ensure that officials of the third rank do not receive a monthly salary."

Li Shimin was taken aback, lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and found that Cheng Jun's words made some sense.

"You go on."

Li Shimin asked curiously, "And then?"

…………

A second update will follow shortly.