Chapter 292 Pandora’s Box
"Since you have a plan, I won't say much about this matter. The backlog of accounts at the Inspection Treasury involves too many people, so it is better to use gentle means." The emperor reminded.
Zhao Xing hesitated for a moment after hearing this, and said, "Father should have known this a long time ago, right?"
"Ah."
The emperor nodded and said, "You want to ask me why I let it go if I knew about it?"
"I do have some doubts in my mind," said Zhao Xing.
The reason why Gu Yankai married Bai was because the government asked those nobles to pay back the money.
Since the government is so tough on the lords, there is no reason for it to be so indulgent towards the civil servants.
"Alas." The emperor sighed and said, "The reason why this matter has come to this point is that I am responsible."
The emperor told Zhao Xing the reason for this matter.
At that time, the emperor had just taken power and heard that many officials could not even afford to buy houses, so he allowed them to borrow money from the inspection treasury to buy houses.
The government did this with good intentions, as the local officials had just been promoted to Bianliang and their official positions were not high.
The salaries in the Song Dynasty were high, but the housing prices in Bianliang were also expensive.
The government did this, firstly out of sympathy for these officials, and secondly because they were worried that these officials might commit corruption and commit crimes because they could not afford to buy houses.
There is no problem in lending money to officials to buy houses and then repaying the money slowly with their salaries.
It can not only win the hearts of the people, but also prevent officials from becoming greedy.
At first, some people couldn't pay back on time, but the government didn't care.
Firstly, there are not many people, and secondly, it is normal that the government feels that some of them are encountering difficulties and cannot pay it back temporarily.
But I didn't expect that the amount of arrears would increase more and more.
Many of them are old officials, and some have retired and died of illness.
The government is kind and lenient by nature, so the matter has been delayed until now.
Zhao Xing was speechless after hearing this. He couldn't say that his father did anything wrong.
After all, even officials in later generations would be allocated houses, and those who were not qualified for housing would also receive subsidies in this regard.
If the court cannot provide it, it is not impossible to borrow some money.
However, the government was too lenient. At first, some people dragged their feet on paying back the money, but the government thought the amount was not much and did not pursue the matter.
When other officials see that they don’t have to pay it back, who would be stupid enough to do so?
It would be a waste not to take advantage of public benefits.
The government still thought that those people would be grateful. Maybe those officials were thinking that it was only natural for the court to distribute the houses, so why should they return them?
A son should not blame his father. Things have already happened, and there is no point in dwelling on them. Therefore, Zhao Xing did not comment much, but said: "Don't worry, father. I sent Gao Bo into exile to deter others. I think no one dares to default on the debt."
"It seems that this is also your calculation." The official scolded with a smile.
Zhao Xing smiled without saying anything. After chatting with his father for a while, he took his leave.
After leaving the palace and getting on the carriage, Zhao Xing was thinking about how to get some money.
This incident also highlights the court’s current dilemma of raising money.
It's ridiculous that the imperial court was unable to make ends meet just because of a few million taels of bad debt.
He has money, and the amount he has accumulated over the years is more than 20 million taels.
However, if we want to mobilize troops against Western Xia and Liao in the future, it will cost a lot of money and food.
The imperial court was unable to make ends meet even without fighting a war, and could not provide military expenses.
Therefore, this money cannot be moved.
Zhao Xing thought about it and came up with the idea of paper money.
The Song Dynasty had paper money. For example, the Jiaozi circulated in Sichuan and Shu and the silver notes traded in large quantities on the market today are all paper money.
The paper money at that time was not printed randomly. For example, Jiaozi had a reserve.
And the silver notes cannot even be called paper money, they are more like passbooks.
The earliest origin of silver bills was that they were created by merchants for the convenience of transactions.
In ancient times, silver and money were inconvenient to carry, especially in large transactions. Not only was it difficult to count, but it was also difficult to transport.
So some businessmen united together and opened money shops in various places.
People in need could deposit money in local banks, get bills, and then go to other cities with banks to withdraw money. At first, all transactions were cash withdrawals, but later, as people recognized bills, they could be traded directly with bills, so they were called silver bills.
Merchants deposited their silver and money into money shops in exchange for bills. Money shops were not doing charity, so they naturally charged a certain percentage of the handling fee.
Later, the imperial court saw the convenience of this method and, in order to facilitate management, it took the lead in setting up silver ticket offices in various places.
What Zhao Xing wanted was to just print some silver bills.
At first, silver bills were only used to facilitate regional transactions. As the public became more accepting of silver bills, many people would not exchange them for cash.
Therefore, the imperial court could print a certain number of silver notes. As long as it could ensure that the silver notes could be exchanged for sufficient cash and there was no bank run, there would be no problem.
Considering the prosperity of the Song Dynasty's economy, Zhao Xing estimated that even if he printed tens of millions of taels of silver notes, the silver note system should not collapse.
Everything has its pros and cons. This method is like Pandora's box. Once it is opened, it is difficult to control.
If the later emperors were incompetent, they would think of printing silver bills when they were short of money.
Zhu Yuanzhang had done this before. Whenever he was short of money, he would print as much banknotes as he wanted.
As a result, the Baochao depreciated severely, and no one recognized it anymore.
But Zhu Yuanzhang was an unreasonable person. He paid the officials' salaries directly with Baochao. He didn't care how much the Baochao depreciated and calculated the salary according to the face value of the Baochao.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor. If someone else had done this, the Ming Dynasty would have perished long ago.
The collapse of the financial system would be terrible.
Zhao Xing was very worried that if he did so, he would produce unpromising descendants who would cause chaos and lead to the destruction of the country.
"I can't care about so many things. At worst, I can solve the court's accumulated problems in the future, recall and destroy the extra-printed banknotes, and leave a will when I die, forbidding my descendants to do this." Zhao Xing said gritting his teeth.
This method is indeed a way to make a lot of money quickly.
Zhao Xing couldn't give up because of a single mistake.
Although the decision has been made, it cannot be done immediately.
How much money to print without causing inflation still needs to be carefully calculated.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing no longer thought about these things.
He was so busy during this period that he didn't even have time to favor the two beauties from the Western Regions sent by General Gan.
As a qualified emperor, how could I let down the kindness of my subjects?
After Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang became Zhao Xing's personal maids, they thought Zhao Xing would favor them, but in the end Zhao Xing never touched them.
As personal maids, they usually had to wait and serve by Zhao Xing's side when he favored other concubines.
Even though Zhao Xing was the crown prince, they couldn't help but look at him with a hint of resentment.
Tonight, Zhao Xing did not go to other concubines' courtyards, nor did he summon any concubine to sleep with him. The two knew that their opportunity had come, and when they served Zhao Xing with bathing, their eyes were full of love, and they worked very hard.
That night, Zhao Xing enjoyed the beauty of the Western Regions.
…………
On this day, Zhao Xing was busy handling official business when Eunuch Liu reported, "Your Highness, Sheng Changsong, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, wants to see you."
"Let him in." Zhao Xing said.
Because he was regent, he was basically in the palace during the day.
For convenience, Sheng Changsong was appointed as a Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Revenue.
After a while, Sheng Changsong was brought in.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!" Sheng Changsong bowed.
"No need to be polite!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "What do you want to do in the palace?"
Sheng Changsong looked around, and Zhao Xing understood and sent all the servants in the hall out.
"Your Highness, Li Ge is here and said he wants to see Your Highness!" Sheng Changsong said.
"Oh?" Zhao Xing asked, "Did he tell me the purpose of his visit?"
"I asked him, and he said he could only tell me after he met His Highness." Sheng Changsong said.
"Take him to the East Palace at night," said Zhao Xing.
(End of this chapter)