Chapter 285
As the saying goes, tens of thousands of people make a huge crowd.
Twenty thousand people may not sound like a large number, but with them wearing armor, holding weapons, and standing in neat rows, a murderous atmosphere can be felt.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In front of the war drums on both sides of the general's platform, sturdy men were beating the drums heavily.
The powerful drum beats seem to be hit in the rhythm of the heartbeat every time, making people's blood boil.
The drums stopped beating, and 20,000 people saluted and shouted, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Stand up!" Zhao Xing raised his hand and said.
There were more than 20,000 people. No matter how loudly Zhao Xing spoke, only some soldiers in the front row could hear him, and those in the back could not hear him at all.
However, the soldiers could see the gesture, so when Zhao Xing finished speaking, they all shouted, "Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Today, one hundred thousand soldiers will set out to guard the border. I hope you can bravely take the lead and protect the stability of the border!" Zhao Xing said.
The soldiers on horseback on both sides rode through the ranks, repeating Zhao Xing's words loudly, spreading Zhao Xing's words throughout the army.
"I hereby promise that during the period when the soldiers are stationed at the border, their salaries will be paid in full without any delay or deduction. If they have made meritorious contributions, they will be rewarded with land!"
After the cavalry spread Zhao Xing's words throughout the army again, drums sounded.
After the drums stopped beating, the soldiers shouted in unison: "We will win! We will win!"
This time the calls were a little louder than before.
For ordinary soldiers, they cannot understand any profound principles.
Zhao Xing did not say anything profound, but only promised to pay the military pay on time and reward land for meritorious service.
That's enough for the soldiers.
When the imperial court was short of money in the past, it often delayed the payment of soldiers’ wages.
Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has promised in front of so many people that he will pay the soldiers in full and on time, and will reward them with land for their meritorious service, the soldiers' morale is naturally high.
"Duke of England, let's go!" said Zhao Xing.
"Yes!"
The Duke of Yingguo walked out from behind Zhao Xing, came to the front, turned around, saluted Zhao Xing, and turned away from the platform.
The personal guard at the side led the horse forward, and the Duke of England climbed on the horse.
"Leave!"
"Woo~"
Amid the melodious sound of trumpets, the soldiers, under the command of their general, lined up in an orderly manner and followed the Duke of England.
Zhao Xing stood on the reviewing platform, looking at the soldiers leaving the camp in a long line, his eyes somewhat absent-minded.
"Your Highness, it's time to return to the palace." Han Zhang reminded.
Zhao Xing came back to his senses and said, "Return to the palace!"
After returning to Bian Jing with all the officials, Zhao Xing went straight back to the palace.
All the officials returned to their offices.
"Your Highness, these ties need to be dealt with as soon as possible."
When Zhang Qingzhi saw Zhao Xing coming back, he bowed and took out a dozen bundles of paper and presented them to Zhao Xing.
His job was to sort out the bundles that needed to be handled by Zhao Xing every day, and give Zhao Xing those that needed to be handled as soon as possible first according to their importance.
In addition, when Zhao Xing encountered something he didn't know how to deal with and asked him for advice, he would provide Zhao Xing with some ideas for reference.
Eunuch Liu stepped forward, took the bundle and handed it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing picked up the top bundle and began to look at it, frowning slightly.
"The northern horse farms are short of fine grain. The Ministry of Revenue can just allocate it. Maybe I can handle this matter?"
"Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue said that the number of war horses in the northern horse farms has increased dramatically, and the originally stored soybeans are not enough, so they need to purchase from the public. However, the Ministry of Revenue refused to approve it." Zhang Qingzhi said.
"Why don't you approve it?" Zhao Xing frowned.
War horses cannot just eat grass, they also need to add some refined grains, such as soybeans and oats.
Otherwise the warhorse will lose too much weight and become useless.
Some people may wonder, if this is the case, since nomadic people live on the grasslands and do not farm, how can they get soybeans, oats and other things to feed their horses?
As the saying goes, the land and water nurture the people, and this is true for humans and animals alike.
There is plenty of green grass on the grassland, and there are also some specific grasses that can supplement the needs of war horses.
But it was different for the Han people. They could only provide hay for their war horses, which naturally needed to be supplemented with fine grains.
Zhao Xing traded so many kinds of horses, which increased the consumption of soybeans.
The yield of soybeans is not high and they cannot be used as a staple food. Ordinary people rarely grow them on a large scale. They just clear some land and grow a little on it.
Therefore, there were no soybeans in the grain collected by the imperial court from land taxes, and it had to spend money to buy it from the public.
"The reply from the Ministry of Revenue is that the money in the national treasury has already been planned for use and there is no extra money," said Zhang Qingzhi.
"What a joke!" Zhao Xing sneered, "How many war horses does the Song Dynasty have? Even if you count the stallions in the horse farm, there are not many. Can't you afford to support these horses? Eunuch Liu, send someone to tell the Ministry of Revenue. I don't care what method he uses, but the money must be squeezed out. Otherwise, let him resign in writing."
"Your Highness, this may not be appropriate. I have learned that building the Great Wall in the north will cost a lot of money. And this time we are sending 100,000 more troops to the north, and these 100,000 people must be paid in full. Your Highness promised to pay the full amount without delay, and this part of the money cannot be moved." Zhang Qingzhi explained.
Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "Is the cost of building the Great Wall a one-time expense? Salt, iron, wine and tea bring in revenue every month. We can embezzle a portion of it first and then make up for it when the revenue comes in. You don't understand this, so doesn't the Ministry of Finance understand it either?"
Given the financial situation of the Song Dynasty, they have been robbing Peter to pay Paul over the years. Now they are telling him that they can't even find money to buy fine food for their war horses. This is simply a joke.
Ever since Zhao Xing became regent, he had always thought that someone would try to trip him up.
After waiting for so long and seeing no movement, I thought these people had behaved themselves.
This incident might be a test of him by some people.
Zhang Qingzhi really didn't understand these things, and after hearing what Zhao Xing said, he didn't continue to persuade him.
Eunuch Liu responded and sent someone to the three departments to convey Zhao Xing's intention.
Zhao Xing threw the bundle aside and started dealing with other bundles.
About half an hour later, a eunuch came in and reported: "Your Highness, Mr. Gao from the Ministry of Revenue wants to see you!"
"Let him in!" Zhao Xing said lightly.
The eunuch who reported the news retreated after hearing this, and soon Gao Bo, the Duzhi envoy, walked in.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Gao Bo bowed.
"I have asked someone to tell you everything that needs to be said. Come to see me, do you have a solution?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Highness, if it were the same as before, this matter would not be difficult to solve. We just need to divert some money from other places first and then we can turn it around. But the Grand Minister has said that building the Great Wall in the north is the top priority. Your Highness has also said that the military pay of the border soldiers must be paid in full and without delay.
I dare not embezzle the money in this regard, otherwise if there is a problem later and I can't make up for it, I will not be able to report to the emperor." Gao Bo said.
"So you have no way to solve it?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.
"I really have no other choice. Unless Your Highness orders the embezzlement, I dare not embezzle the funds," said Gao Bo.
"If you can't even handle such a small matter, you'd better not be able to do this job as the Duzhishisi. I'll replace you with someone capable. You're not young anymore, so go home and enjoy your retirement." Zhao Xing said calmly.
He didn't know why Gao Bo insisted on him issuing an order before he was willing to embezzle the funds, but Zhao Xing knew that this order could not be issued.
Once he leaves, the hole caused by misappropriation in the future will definitely not be filled up.
It’s not that there is no way to make up for it, but that these people don’t know how to make up for it.
Maybe the hole will get bigger and bigger, and if there are problems in the future, the order will also be given by him.
Gao Bo looked at Zhao Xing in disbelief. You know, although the rank of the Three Departments Envoy is not high, its power and status are extremely high.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xing dismissed him and allowed him to go home to retire.
He is just in his early fifties, why would he need retirement care?
"What's the matter? Lord Gao's ears are not working well anymore? Do you need me to repeat it again?" Zhao Xing said.
"I obey your order!" Gao Bo came back to his senses, took off the black gauze hat on his head with trembling hands, held it in his hands, saluted, and walked out holding the black gauze hat.
Zhao Xing looked at Gao Bo's departing back, pondered for a long time, and said, "Eunuch Liu, send someone to Kaifeng Prefecture to summon Wang Anshi to the palace."
He felt that there must be something wrong within the Three Departments. If it was really just a test, Gao Bo would not have refused to give in even after being stripped of his official position.
Zhao Xing wanted Wang Anshi to take over the Duzhishisi to see what problems the three departments had.
"Yes!" replied Eunuch Liu.
…………
Zhizheng Hall, also known as Dutang, is where the ministers of the court work.
The news that Zhao Xing dismissed Gao Bo soon reached the Zhizhengtang.
Several men sat together to discuss the matter.
"My Lord, please say something. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince directly dismissed the Duzhishisi without going through the Zhizhengtang. This is not in accordance with the rules." Hu Yanzhong said.
The Song Dynasty and the literati ruling the world together was not just talk.
Even if the government wanted to dismiss important officials in the court, there had to be a suitable reason, and it had to be approved by the Zhizhengtang.
Of course, even if it is a husband, he can be dismissed as long as the government insists on dismissing him.
Although what Zhao Xing did was against the rules, it was not a big deal.
What Hu Yanzhong was worried about was that Zhao Xing already had a grudge against him. If Gao Bo was dismissed today and no one stopped him, he might be dismissed again some other day.
Gao Bo was directly dismissed from his post and was not even given the honor of retirement.
With his rank, if he retired normally, it would be no problem for him to be conferred the title of one of the Three Dukes.
He doesn't want to end up like Gao Bo.
Han Zhang frowned and said, "Gao Bo is the director of the Ministry of Revenue, but he didn't even approve the Ministry of Revenue's application for money to buy fine grain for the northern horse farm. There is no problem for His Royal Highness to dismiss him."
"Even so, we should hold a small court meeting to discuss it. How can we just impeach him?" Hu Yanzhong said.
The eyes of the other people moved slightly when they heard this.
Hu Yanzhong's words touched their hearts.
If suppressing military generals is a tacit consensus among civil officials, restricting imperial power is also the case.
The selfish reason for limiting the imperial power is to gain more power for oneself.
The purpose of limiting the imperial power without any selfish motives is to avoid leaving it without any restraint.
Not to mention others, even Han Zhang felt a little hesitant after hearing Hu Zhongyan's words.
"I will report this matter to the emperor and see what he thinks." Han Zhang said.
(End of this chapter)