The sky was dark and gloomy, and it had been raining all morning. In the afternoon, although the rain stopped, it was still covered with dark clouds and there was no sunlight. The weather was like this, and Emperor Yi Feng was not in a happy mood. Yifeng announced another Northern Expedition at the court meeting yesterday, and ordered Li Jing to lead the army. The result was an immediate outcry. Even though Yifeng finally announced his plan to use Turkic troops and vassal troops to fight, The ministers of the political affairs hall still refused to let go, which made Yi Feng feel extremely bad. Fortunately, the Privy Council supported him, as did the senior generals of the Sanyamen and the Guards. In the Kaiyuan Hall, Yi Feng sat across from Yang Su, Su Wei, Xue Daoheng, Li Gang, Liu Wenjing, Wei Zheng, Fan Zigai, Xu Deyan, Wang Bao, Li Jing and other officials. The chamberlain poured wine for the emperor and the governors one by one, and beside them there were musicians from the studio playing the elegant guqin. Yi Feng raised his wine glass, "Since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, it has been threatened by the Turks. It was not until the seventh year of the founding of the Emperor that the Sui Dynasty successfully took advantage of the Turks' internal strife to take the initiative. Then the Northern Expedition in the nineteenth year of the Emperor's reign , the imperial court was able to truly defeat the Turks. Now, after last year's Battle of Dunhuang, the imperial court destroyed Tuyuhun, and the Turks were directed towards the Western Regions. The Turks were no longer able to fight against the imperial court. If the imperial court did not take advantage of the situation and surrender the Turks, it would be very dangerous. Years later, the Turks will come back again. At that time, how much effort will the imperial court have to spend to stabilize the northern border? " The monarch and his ministers drank this cup together, and the servants came forward to pour wine for them one by one. Yi Feng held the wine glass and looked at the fourteen ministers of the dynasty, "A few days ago, I proposed another Northern Expedition. The servants on the left and right mentioned that the government is now in financial difficulties, the army and the people are exhausted, and they are unable to fight anymore. However, the Privy Council told me The morale of the soldiers is now high, and they fully support the imperial court's Northern Expedition. I have thought about it for a long time, and finally decided that the imperial court will not mobilize a large army for this northern expedition, but will use the surrendered Turkic troops as the main force, and then mobilize Tiele, Dangxiang, Gaochang and others. The country is the auxiliary. In this way, the court does not need to mobilize a large army, nor does it need to recruit a large number of civilians, nor does it even need to supply a large amount of food, grass, and equipment. I am only a marshal, but at yesterday's court meeting, the Privy Council approved this plan, but all the courtiers headed by the Prime Ministers of the Political Affairs Hall still opposed the plan with all their strength. I am a little confused and do not understand, so I specially summoned all the ministers in private today. Discuss. Can you tell me why you object? " Li Gang said, "In the Western Han Dynasty, there was the rule of Wen Jing, and the world was prosperous. Later Han Wu succeeded to the throne and used troops to retreat to the Xiongnu for 44 years. In Mobei, the number of people in the Han Dynasty has been reduced by half, and the people are in dire straits, and the gains outweigh the losses. " "Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was suspected of resorting to military violence, his unyielding spirit in resisting aggression is worth learning. I must be punished every time I read this sentence. Although our country has only been in existence for twenty years, we have never surrendered to the barbarians. Peace is achieved today. Datou indeed asked for surrender, but how sincere is this surrender? If we agree, Datou will not be grateful or grateful, and will only scold us for being stupid. You may have heard of the intentions of the farmer and the snake. Maybe you haven't heard of it. It's about a farmer who met a frozen snake on the road. The farmer kindly picked up the snake and put it in his arms to warm it to prevent it from freezing to death. But the snake warmed up and did the next thing. One thing is not gratitude, but bites the farmer and poisons him to death. The same story, as well as the story of the Zhongshan Wolf, should not be unfamiliar to everyone. There are only interests between countries, especially the Turks. There is an irresolvable conflict between the nomadic tribes and the Central Plains. Once they become stronger, they will inevitably invade us. Even if they encounter a disaster, the first solution they think of is to go south and rob us. There is a way to solve the grassland problem once and for all. Opportunity, why don't we try, why don't we dare to try?" "But why can your Majesty be so sure that the Turks sent to the Northern Expedition today are trustworthy? Can your Majesty's enfeoffment really make these Turks surrender? If not, why bother with the Northern Expedition? Why not place these surrendered Turks in the Central Plains as Pingfan?" Xue Daoheng also said. Yi Feng shook his head, "Of course the Turks will not be trustworthy gentlemen, but interests can affect them. Let them go back and destroy Datou and Dulan. First of all, this will allow the Turks to attack each other, which will also weaken the strength of the Turks. At the same time, after the war, we divided the grassland tribes into enfeoffments, allowing them to restrict each other and achieve a relatively stable order. The Turks were no longer unified, and there was no longer an overlord in the grassland. Naturally, the scattered grassland tribes could no longer threaten the imperial court. This is Long-term benefits. Maybe things will not be that simple, but do we dare not even try? " Yang Sudao, "I still think that the grassland has finally calmed down, and at this time, I will let the Turks surrender and start a war again. It's not necessarily a good thing. If there's a war, no one will know the outcome.It is difficult to predict which direction it will develop. And if the imperial court accepts the surrender of Datou and Dulan now, then the grassland can be stable and the borderland peaceful for at least ten years. In these ten years, the imperial court will recover and recuperate, and it will definitely be more prosperous. By then, it will be stronger and more powerful. Don't worry about Turks anymore. And if there is another war on the grassland now, if there is an accident, the court may not be able to calm it down now. I recall that when Shabolu surrendered to the imperial court, Mohe Khan succeeded him after his death, and marched westward under the banner of the imperial court, winning consecutive battles in a short period of time. If he had not died unexpectedly at the hands of the Persians, I am afraid that Mohe would have returned to the throne. Unify the east and west, and by that time, they might have fallen out with the court again. " "The imperial court has been at war for many years, using troops constantly, and the treasury is depleted. It is very dangerous. If there is a natural disaster or something, and there is no money in the imperial treasury and no food in the warehouse, how should we face it? There can be no more war. Since His Majesty has agreed not to use troops in Liaodong for the time being, why is he going to do the Northern Expedition again? Your Majesty, please let the world rest. It will only take ten years. By then, the treasury will be full. If Your Majesty wants to use troops again, whether it is the Northern Expedition or the Eastern Expedition, my ministers will not object. "The right servant shot Su Wei and asked. "Money, money, money, in the final analysis, what you are worried about is the treasury. "Yi Feng nodded, "About this, I have been thinking about it this time. I also know that since I came to the throne, the imperial treasury has been spending continuously and has been unable to make ends meet. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has a deficit of more than 30 million yuan. However, everyone should also see that although the imperial court continued to use troops, it was always victorious, and the imperial court's soldiers and generals did not suffer many casualties. The imperial court received more from the money and food it spent on the war. We recaptured western Liaoning, recaptured eastern Liaoning, and captured Tuyuhun. In addition, we formally brought the Xi, Khitan, and Ping tribes under the rule of the imperial court. Not only did we open up thousands of miles of territory, but the new population alone exceeded Two million people, isn't this worth paying for? " "And the common people were not greatly disturbed by the war in the imperial court. We recruited them to transport grain and grass, build roads, manufacture equipment, etc. The imperial court did not recruit them for free, but paid a high salary. The common people served the imperial court. , but he got a lot of wages to support his family. At the same time, the soldiers fought for the country, and the court paid them generous salaries and generous rewards. Those who were disabled or died also received appropriate insurance compensation and pension allowances. No one was dissatisfied with this. It can even be said that everyone from the court to the soldiers and the common people have received the dividends of the war. The court paid a lot, but with bank borrowings and bond issuance, we did not need to forcibly apportion additional taxes from the people. Although there was some interest, think about the thousands of miles of territory and millions of dollars we got. Population, etc., are tens of millions of dollars lost? "Although Yi Feng continued to use troops, his use of troops was different from that of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Where did the military expenses come from when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used troops? Through various conscriptions, it was entirely supported by grabbing money from the rich and ordinary people in the world. The war lasted for decades. Although the war was won, the country's people's livelihood was ruined and households were reduced by half. But Yi Feng was fighting in a completely different form. This war was like a business. , the imperial court's military expenses were not levied and apportioned from the people, but were raised through bank loans and the issuance of war bonds. The large amounts of money raised were used to support the war. The soldiers received generous salaries and generous rewards, and the common people were recruited to serve in the imperial court. Transshipment of grain and grass, production of equipment, etc. are not forced labor, but have the same good salary. Although the imperial court's financial deficit is getting bigger and bigger, due to the victory of the war, the imperial court has added countless new land, forests and minerals to the population. Livestock and cities are all money. What's more, after capturing Liaodong and Tuyuhun, the imperial court basically wiped out all the upper classes among the original natives, and the government and their properties were basically put into the national treasury. It can be said that except for the failure of the war, the more wars like this are fought, the more the court will make. Not only the court will make money, but the soldiers, the people and the businessmen will all be enjoying the dividends of the war. . However, the prime ministers of Yi Feng were obviously not able to accept Yi Feng's thinking. They were full of fear that the government was burdened with a fiscal deficit of tens of millions. They were used to living within their means and saving, but now suddenly. "Well, let's put up the trophies captured in the Liaodong and Tuyuhun wars and auction them off, including houses, estates, mining workshops, shops, cattle, sheep, livestock, carriages and horses, etc." It can be auctioned off and the proceeds will be turned over to the imperial treasury. "Yi Feng's words made Fan Zigai, the Minister of Political Affairs and Minister of Civil Affairs, look much better. "In addition, I recently intend to make appropriate changes to the court's tax system. These are some preliminary terms I have drawn up. You can take a look. , make some suggestions and supplements, and then promulgate it to the world. I believe that the implementation of the new tax system will definitely greatly improve the court's fiscal revenue problem. "Yi Feng finally launched a big move to reform the tax system and fundamentally increase the country's fiscal revenue. (To be continued)