Chapter 502: Savings

Through Zhao Feng's explanation, Li Xuan learned that the income of the royal private treasury is divided into several major parts.

The most basic is the imperial grain paid by the imperial farm.

Others include the collection of criminal property, tribute from officials and vassal states, customs duties, liquor taxes, and salt and iron income.

Of course, lending is also an indispensable item.

However, Emperor Yongyuan lent money to those ministers, and the interest income was very stable.

Then those ministers used this money to lend to the people. The previous law of usury also benefited Emperor Yongyuan a lot.

Li Xuan could see that originally the biggest profit of this lending business was to be eaten by Emperor Yongyuan, but now it has all changed, and it has become that those ministers eat meat and Emperor Yongyuan drinks soup.

According to Zhao Feng, they can still control the income of the royal private treasury within the capital and eliminate those corruption phenomena.

But outside the capital, the Ministry of Internal Affairs can do nothing to help.

They can manage for a while, but they can't manage for a lifetime.

When the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent people to supervise, they arrested a group and killed a group.

As a result, once the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs left, the situation returned to its original state.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was already very limited in managing the palace and the capital, and as for the outside of the capital, it could only serve as a source of information.

Unless a special team was dispatched to perform a mission, it would be difficult to stay in one place and be responsible for local affairs.

In the final analysis, Emperor Yongyuan's control over Daxing was too weak.

The reports from below said that the efficiency was getting worse and worse, but Li Xuan thought that the money that should have entered the royal private treasury might have gone into someone else's pocket.

No wonder Emperor Yongyuan frequently took risky measures, he had no choice but to do so.

But no matter what, the income of the royal private treasury is not much now, so it can't be wasted at will.

Zhao Feng flipped through the account book and told the three little ones which part of the expenditure was pure extravagance and waste and could be cut.

Li Xuan leaned over to take a closer look and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Wow, are the expenses so high?"

The biggest expense in the palace is the monthly allowances of the concubines.

Empress Wu, who had the most, made up a lucky number, nine hundred and ninety-nine taels.

The four concubines and nine concubines below also had hundreds of taels of silver, but the amount was reduced gradually according to their ranks.

Although it didn't seem much, it was an expense every month.

When they were in the worst time in Jingyang Palace, the brown rice and silver coins added up were not as much as other people's coins.

The silver coins they received were almost broken into pieces, and they could be blown away by a breath, and they might not weigh one tael when melted together.

Especially Yu'er, seeing the exaggerated numbers on the account book, she couldn't help but gasp.

She used to get up early and work late every day for others for a dozen or twenty coins.

But these people can enjoy such a luxurious life without working.

Although Yu'er has seen many bigger numbers with Li Xuan during this period, and has counted a lot of ten thousand taels of silver bills, she still can't help feeling angry.

Li Xuan was in a similar mood. Jingyang Palace suffered so much in the past, most of which were difficult because of money.

But these other concubines are so good, each with such a high monthly allowance.

You know, the palace will meet the concubines' basic needs such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, and the monthly allowance money is used to reward and purchase other extra items.

Other palaces are not like the previous Jingyang Palace, which lacks food and clothing, and the material rations are always sufficient.

The royal private treasury also has a considerable part of expenditure, just to ensure this part.

Li Xuan slapped the account book and wrote viciously:

"Deduct all, deduct all!"

"Anyway, they are all rich girls, let them send money from their families!"

Zhao Feng could only smile bitterly at Li Xuan's words.

After all, these concubines are the women of Emperor Yongyuan, so it is naturally impossible for them to do this.

Otherwise, it will be Emperor Yongyuan himself who will be embarrassed.

Li Xuan was also puzzled.

Since Emperor Yongyuan was so poor, how could he dare to take in so many concubines.

Just from a glance at the account book, there are no less than a hundred names of concubines.

With so many concubines, can Emperor Yongyuan take care of them?

"Don't overestimate your own abilities, don't overestimate your own abilities!"

Perhaps seeing Li Xuan's contempt, or perhaps saying it to Princess Ankang, Zhao Feng coughed dryly and said faintly: "Your Majesty also has your own difficulties."

"The ladies are all from extraordinary backgrounds, so your Majesty naturally cannot favor one over the other."

"Therefore, as long as there is a suitable candidate and he is willing to enter the palace, your Majesty will agree."

"But whether he can stand out in the cruel struggle in the harem is not your Majesty's business."

After listening to this, Li Xuan couldn't help but think of what he had seen in Yanqu Hall before.

There are indeed a lot of talents who have just entered the palace, and there are also many people with prominent backgrounds like Wang Suyue and Liang Chuchu.

"Wow, isn't this the 'harem big stage, come if you have a dream'?"

But Li Xuan clearly remembered that in addition to those talents with special identities, there are also many talents from ordinary families.

He heard that these talented people were brought into the palace by the so-called flower and bird envoys.

This flower and bird envoy must be related to Emperor Yongyuan, right?

Li Xuan had no scruples and immediately asked Zhao Feng about the existence of this flower and bird envoy.

As far as he knew, the duty of this flower and bird envoy was to select beautiful women from the people to enter the palace for Emperor Yongyuan.

However, judging from the rumors he heard in Yanqu Palace, people generally avoided flower and bird envoys and even paid bribes to prevent their daughters from entering the palace.

But there are those who are unwilling to enter the palace, and naturally there are those who are willing to enter the palace.

Some people spend money not to go, while others spend money to beg to go.

But no matter what, this flower and bird envoy seems to be a lucrative position.

Zhao Feng didn't expect that Li Xuan knew a lot, so he immediately explained awkwardly:

"When the flower-dressed eunuchs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs go out to do business in the palace, it is best to hide the identity of the flower-and-bird eunuch."

"Beauty contestants enter the palace just by the way, mainly to perform secret missions."

"Otherwise, if the Ministry of Internal Affairs carries out the investigation with great fanfare, it will face countless obstacles."

It seems that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the most powerful in the palace. The further away from the imperial power, the harder it is for them to exert their power.

Li Xuan could also guess that Emperor Yongyuan's control over the capital was not very good. Outside the capital, he would not be as far away as the Emperor.

Li Xuan no longer asked Zhao Feng any more about the sad things of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and concentrated on studying with him the issue of reducing the expenditure of the royal private treasury.

Zhao Feng already had an idea about this and explained it to the three little ones.

Li Xuan and Zhao Feng discussed with each other, while Princess Ankang and Yu'er listened quietly.

Li Xuan had shown great ability when he was speculating on antiques before, so Zhao Feng also valued his opinions and answered almost all questions.

"Since the basic needs of life can be guaranteed, then the extra money is just used for extravagance and waste."

"Well, let's set a baseline and divide it according to grade. In the future, we can just add a cap. No more than this line is allowed."

Li Xuan wrote and gave Zhao Feng a look, indicating that he should remind Emperor Yongyuan not to reward randomly in the future.

Zhao Feng naturally understood what Li Xuan meant and immediately spoke for Emperor Yongyuan:

"Oh, Ah Xuan, you don't know something."

"Sometimes, rewards are unavoidable. After all, there are a few special days every year."

Li Xuan dismissed this and continued to write: "Then give a one-time reward. As the saying goes, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain."

"And didn't Emperor Yongyuan see this opportunity right?"

"Now that the treasury is empty, we really need Emperor Yongyuan and his concubines to set an example and set an example."

"I believe sensible women will not have any objection to this."

"I can't say, there is also the virtuous empress who has provided some support from her own treasury to our dear Majesty."

Li Xuan said with a strange yin and yang expression.

Zhao Feng didn't understand what he meant, but letting Emperor Yongyuan ask for money from the concubines was a matter that he could never handle.

Zhao Feng immediately pretended to be dumbfounded, as if he didn't understand the meaning behind the words, and just nodded in agreement with Li Xuan.

"Axuan makes sense."

"Okay, okay, it is indeed the auspiciousness of the country."

"Wonderful, really wonderful!"

Zhao Feng gave Li Xuan thumbs-up gestures repeatedly.

Li Xuan silently said "cut~" in his heart.

He made such a suggestion not for the sake of Emperor Yongyuan.

Emperor Yongyuan lost so much money to his concubines before. Couldn't these concubines support him when he was in trouble, just to test whether the relationship between the couple is still deep?

Li Xuan couldn't help but smile evilly.

When Emperor Yongyuan spoke, no one paid, which would be interesting.

After Li Xuan and Zhao Feng discussed for a while, they came up with the final solution.

With a stroke of his pen, Li Xuan directly crossed out a nine on Queen Wu's monthly routine.

"The Queen's monthly pattern is ninety-nine taels."

"Axuan, is this too much?"

Zhao Feng asked worriedly.

Princess Ankang couldn't help but said from the side: "Axuan, Yuan'an's pocket money seems to come from this monthly account."

Li Xuan immediately waved his tail: "The child is still young, and he has to suffer a lot to understand the suffering of the people."

"oh--"

Princess Ankang answered obediently and stopped asking any more questions. Instead, she borrowed the account book from Zhao Feng and began to look through it.

Zhao Feng couldn't help but feel distressed, and just crossed out a digit, which was of course very satisfying.

These messy monthly routines add up to more than 10,000 taels of silver per month.

According to Li Xuan's method, he could save nearly ten thousand taels.

This is every month. If you add up to a little, you can add up to a lot in a year.

Compared with Zhao Feng's initial expectations, Li Xuan was obviously going to be more ruthless.

But if you do this, you will offend people even more.

Thinking of this, Zhao Feng couldn't help but look worriedly at Princess Ankang, who was quietly looking through the account books.

Princess Ankang silently turned the account book to the end and couldn't help asking Li Xuan:

"Axuan, what should we do with these concubines who are in single digits?"

"A monthly allowance of five taels of silver will be left for all of them, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs must ensure the supply of basic supplies and not cause a lack of food and clothing to the point where they cannot support their daily lives."

Li Xuan's answer made Zhao Feng look a little unnatural.

Back then, Jingyang Palace's monthly schedule had been cut down one after another, and it happened right under his nose.

Although the three little ones had no intention of blaming him, Zhao Feng still couldn't help but feel embarrassed when he mentioned this matter.

In this matter, he did do something imprudent.

As the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although he had the ability to secretly take care of Jingyang Palace, he did not do so.

In the final analysis, it was because he calculated too well.

At this point, he is far inferior to his godfather.

However, the difference in status between the two people now also prevents Zhao Feng from being able to do as he pleases like Manager Shang.

Zhao Feng had too many things to worry about, especially the need to figure out what Emperor Yongyuan meant.

After all, as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as Emperor Yongyuan's number one confidant, every move he made represented Emperor Yongyuan's wishes.

One thing Manager Shang was right about was that Zhao Feng had only seen the majesty of the Manager of the Internal Affairs Bureau before, but not the caution of the Manager of the Internal Affairs Bureau.

Even though he, as the adopted son, has always been with Mr. Shang, there are still some things that he needs to experience personally to understand the hardships involved.

Princess Ankang glanced at Zhao Feng, then immediately lowered her head to look at the account book, and continued:

"Even if they all get the same money, I'm afraid some people will still be dissatisfied."

Li Xuan was not worried about this and explained: "That's why we set the upper limit according to the grade. It can also stimulate the ambition of these concubines to serve your father well."

"But there is still an upper limit in the end. Otherwise, Queen Wu would get one thousand taels of silver, while the lowest concubine would only have less than three taels of silver. Such a huge gap would be undesirable."

Some concubines in the palace are actually worse off than some of the more powerful palace maids. You can tell from the monthly routines.

When Li Xuan looked through the account books just now and found that the largest number of low-level concubines had a monthly salary of less than five taels of silver, he knew how to solve the problem.

Most of the concubines, four concubines, and nine concubines above were from extraordinary families, and they were not at all short of money.

But the division of the monthly schedule gave most of the money to those concubines who were not short of money at all, while those low-level concubines who needed money only had three melons and two dates, and they could not maintain their dignity even if they wanted to.

In this way, those who are favored will naturally become more favored, while those who are not favored will not be able to see Emperor Yongyuan once throughout the year.

Even if they meet her once, I am afraid that Emperor Yongyuan will not be interested in the slightly embarrassed low-level concubine.

If things go on like this, these concubines who were lucky enough to get a chance will eventually become nothing more than palace maids.

Perhaps when he gets older in the future, he can brag about being favored by the emperor.

Seeing that Li Xuan had an idea and Princess Ankang did not object, Zhao Feng had to tell the possible risks.

But Li Xuan had told Princess Ankang about offending people before he came, so that she could be prepared.

Seeing that Zhao Fengsheng was afraid that she did not understand the situation, Princess Ankang said helplessly:

"Mr. Zhao, regardless of whether this is the case or not, I'm afraid not many of the concubines in the palace like me, right?"

"What difference does it make if you can't offend me?"

Princess Ankang laughed at herself, making it difficult for Zhao Feng to say anything.

Li Xuan came over and patted Zhao Feng on the shoulder, telling him not to worry too much and not to underestimate Princess Ankang.

Then, they made similar changes to the monthly salary of the palace maids and concubines, drastically reducing the exaggerated monthly salary of the palace maids and eunuchs at the head, and then slightly increased the bottom salary, and also set the monthly salary according to the grade. Money limit.

In this way, as long as the scale of palace maids and eunuchs does not expand significantly, this part of the expenditure will be regulated to a certain extent.

But both Li Xuan and Zhao Feng knew very well that although the effect of reducing expenditure was good, it was far less effective than increasing revenue.

They still have to find a way to increase the income of the royal private treasury as soon as possible.

In this way, Emperor Yongyuan can also have more confidence.

After all, the royal private treasury is under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so there will be no mistakes.

It was not until late at night that the three little ones yawned and walked out of the royal treasury with Zhao Feng.

But their work today was not in vain. According to preliminary estimates, the monthly expenditure of the royal private treasury has been reduced by nearly 20,000 taels of silver.

In other words, in just one day, Jingyang Palace will have a stable income of 10,000 taels of silver every month from now on!

As for the mood of those who contribute this stable income to Jingyang Palace, Li Xuan is also looking forward to it.

"Hehe~"