After Shi Hao said this, Zhao Xing understood what Shi Hao meant.

"What do you mean is that Wu Gong and Qi Fang are just auxiliary, and the real main force is Yao Zhong?"

Shi Hao nodded.

"Yes, the old ministers think that Wu Gong lacks experience, Qi Fang is mediocre and incompetent, and cannot truly win. Besides Li Xianzhong and Wang Fang, the famous generals of the Song Dynasty, they are also the three generals of Sichuan and Shu. Li Xianzhong and Wang Fang need to defend the capital and cannot fight. Then the only ones who can fight are the two generals under Wu Lin, among which Yao Zhong is the most suitable.

Your Majesty, Jiangnan West Road is the heart of the Song Dynasty. Once it is owned by the bandits, it is the confidant of the Song Dynasty. It must be eliminated. The previous defeat has already shaken the Song Dynasty's military strength. In the next battle, we must win and must not fail, otherwise the Song Dynasty will be in danger of overthrow."

Shi Hao said it very seriously, and Zhao Xing listened to it.

"Then do this. The Privy Council immediately sent a letter to recruit Yao Zhong to participate in the battle, so that he could lead the army eastward immediately. In addition, he would also instruct Wu Lin to defend northern Sichuan no matter what, and he would never have the opportunity to be taken advantage of by the Ming army."

"The old minister follows the order."

Shi Hao nodded, then he hesitated for a while, and said, "Your Majesty, after the imperial guards set off, the Song Dynasty was short of military strength and the Lin'an army was seriously insufficient, so the new recruitment plan must also be implemented."

Zhao Xing was stunned for a moment, then looked at Shi Hao with a look of embarrassment and asked, "How many posts are needed? How big is the money gap?"

"According to the minimum, another 50,000 people are needed to re-complete the Jianghuai defense line. If the imperial guards dispatched this time suffer a relatively large loss, the number of posts needed will be increased, and more money will be needed. At present, about 100,000 jin of money will be spent per month."

Zhao Xing was silent for a while, and then called Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi to ask them to discuss with Shi Hao on the spot, cooperate with each other, and see where they can take out the money, where they can save some, and where they can pick up a little.

The three of them fought back and for a long time, but found that nothing could be saved, everything was very important, and they had to spend all their money, and they couldn't spend it.

And the only thing that can be saved is actually about Zhao Gou.

Regarding Zhao Gou's plan to build more palaces and entertainment facilities for himself, it will cost a lot of money, which is also the only large expenditure that has nothing to do with state affairs.

So in theory, if you want to save money, you can only save some in this regard.

Zhao Xing's face suddenly became bitter.

"Your Majesty, the Supreme Emperor will need to build a brand new palace in the near future, renovate three slightly damaged palaces, build two large stages, add a number of utensils, calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, etc., and it will cost about 500,000 guan, and..."

Ye Yiwen looked at Zhao Xing's worse and worse expression, and his voice became lower and lower.

“And what?”

Zhao Xing's voice was a little hoarse.

"And this is just a preliminary budget. If the process is not smooth enough, it may increase at any time. The estimated increase may be between 200,000 and 300,000. And... this is just this year, and there may not be any other expenditure next year..."

Ye Yiwen's voice was even smaller.

Zhao Xing sat on the chair, held his head with both hands, and fell into deep distress.

The court's finances were so difficult, and it was necessary to develop, recruit soldiers, and renovate roads. Now it was necessary to build a luxurious palace for Zhao Gou and add luxurious equipment to satisfy his personal enjoyment.

Five hundred thousand stagnant coins are still a preliminary budget, and this money alone is enough for Zhao Sheng to establish the army and raise troops for more than half a year, which is enough for him to survive this difficult time.

Did Zhao Gou take this country to heart?

He really feels that everything in this country has nothing to do with him after abdication. He just enjoys it and does not need to take responsibility?

Is he really thinking about the problem like this?

The three prime ministers and important officials set their eyes on Zhao Sheng, and Zhao Sheng raised his head in distress and looked at them.

"Why do you go and discuss with the Supreme Emperor?"

Zhao Xing was embarrassed and even asked his ministers for help.

Shi Hao said helplessly that he had been put on the blacklist by Zhao Sheng. He had offended Zhao Gou before, but now he probably couldn't enter Wanshou Palace at all. If he couldn't see Zhao Gou, he could not help him.

Ye Yiwen and Zhou Linzhi looked at each other and felt each other's helplessness.

Shi Hao was once admired by Zhao Gou, but now he can't convince Zhao Gou, let alone the two of them.

But they expressed their willingness to give it a try.

The result is of course very clear, there is no need to talk about it, so don't even think about it.

Zhao Gou said that he was not the emperor anymore and went to find the emperor if he had something to do. He was just an old man who no longer became an emperor, and there was no need to spend any money on national affairs.

He also asked Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen to bring a message to Zhao Xing, probably saying that he chose you as the emperor because he wanted you to handle state affairs, so that I could have less worries and enjoy more happiness.

I have been the emperor for decades and saved the Song Dynasty from the verge of demise. I have devoted my efforts to the country and the country, and I have nothing to do to the country.

Now that I am old and weak, I don’t know how many years I can live. I just want to enjoy the world before I die and enjoy things I have not been able to enjoy before. Can you not satisfy me in this requirement?

Now you not only cannot handle state affairs, but you also want to disturb my life, not let me enjoy my happiness, and let me continue to suffer. Then what is the purpose of my abdication? If you can't solve this problem, do you still have the face to continue to sit on the throne?

Don’t tell me anything else. If you can’t solve it yourself, you can choose a virtuous person as the emperor and abdicate yourself to give in. In that case, you won’t have to worry!

This is very ugly and embarrassing to Zhao Xing.

There is no way, the word "filial piety" is a big deal, he has no choice. Zhao Gou took the initiative to give his throne to him, not to him, and he has a weak mouth and short hand. He can't do anything that harms Zhao Gou's interests, even if he is really disgusting.

In extreme helplessness, Zhao Xing even had the idea of ​​selling official positions and titles under various reasons.

He knew very well that the imperial court had no money, but the local landlords, powerful and wealthy businessmen were rich one by one, and the country's money was in their hands. If they wanted to solve the financial crisis, it would be best to ask them for money.

But it cannot be robbed openly, otherwise it will cause rebellion, so you can only exchange for the most valuable things in the court.

The most valuable things in the court are nothing more than power and official positions.

Shi Hao, Zhou Linzhi and Ye Yiwen were very opposed to Zhao Xing's idea, and they were unwilling to accept Zhao Xing's opinion no matter what, thinking that Zhao Xing was messing around and was damaging the signboard of the Song Dynasty royal family.

"Selling official positions and titles has been around since ancient times. This is a good idea in the time of crisis in the court. Why do you object so much?"

Zhao Xing was very angry and said angrily: "If you object, just get the money out for me. If you can't get it out, don't blame me for selling official positions! You can choose it yourself!"

Shi Hao and others had no choice but to discuss it privately, thinking that solving the national finances is nothing more than two methods of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure. At present, it is impossible to reduce expenditure at all. There are too many things to do, and the savings are almost done.

Then it can only be open source.

How to open source?

Asking the landlords and gentry to collect taxes is the fastest way to make money, but this is equivalent to repealing their own lives and fighting against the officials and gentry of the world. That is a very unrealistic idea. Wang Anshi, who did this, has a bad reputation and the grave grass is also very high.

The three of them have the intention of saving the country, but they do not have the intention to revolutionize themselves, so they cannot start from this aspect.

Then I can only start from a less core area.

"Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce are at the end, and businessmen are also the richest. If you need money urgently, you can only attack the merchants."

Zhou Linzhi sighed: "The profit of merchants is like a magic trick. However, the cost of transporting goods doubled in an instant. Merchants made a lot of money, but they paid not so much taxes, especially those maritime merchants and foreign merchants, who made amazing profits. Nowadays, the commercial tax can be increased to obtain money."

"I think this method is better than levying agricultural taxes from gentry."
Chapter completed!