Chapter 227: with translation of chapter title

After Fang Congzhe finished speaking, the hall fell silent for a moment.

He did not say it outright, but his meaning was actually quite clear: external military campaigns could take a break.

Jing Sheng Di had been emperor for ten years; his political sensitivity was already very high.

From the earlier admonition by Chen Tingjing and now Fang Congzhe's admonition, he clearly sensed that the court's civil officials shared an unspoken agreement to cease hostilities and intended to suppress Jia Jing.

Perhaps it was Jia Jing's successive victories on the front lines, perhaps his military achievements were too great, or perhaps his own desire to re-enfeoff Jia Jing was too strong.

This caused the civil officials to feel pressure, even forming a worry about military strength overwhelming civil weakness.

Jing Sheng Di secretly sighed; even he could not completely ignore the consensus formed collectively by the civil officials.

Although he could forcibly suppress various voices and opinions, doing so is not the way to govern and would only result in loss outweighing gain.

Perhaps because of the matter of responding to Meng Xianchen's advice, his excessive trust in Zi Jie was too obvious, thus provoking this collective backlash.

Jing Sheng Di did not speak immediately; he let his gaze sweep over the officials in the hall, then fell upon the sunlight outside the window.

That sunlight was blindingly white, shining on the window paper, making him slightly narrow his eyes.

The ice shavings in the corner of the hall were still burning; pale smoke curled upward, smelling cool, yet it could not dispel the stuffiness in the hall.

Jing Sheng Di's eyes were deep; he settled his thoughts, his expression solemn, his demeanor calm and unruffled, and he spoke in a solemn voice:

"First, allocate three hundred thousand taels of silver from my inner treasury to the Jingying; the Jingying's troop reorganization is vital to implementing the New Policies and the safety of the state, and must not be neglected."

"Then urge the collection of this year's grain tax in Jiangnan, have Gong Qing examine Jiangnan's historical deficits, and make up all that is lacking—not a single tael of silver may be omitted."

The Da Han Empire's annual tax revenue from Jiangnan is primarily land tax, collecting rice and wheat in kind or as silver in summer and autumn, supplemented by salt and commercial taxes.

Jiangnan, as a major financial base of the Da Han Empire, bears nearly half of its tax revenue; in the early Jing Sheng era, Suzhou prefecture alone collected over 300,000 taels of silver annually.

Among them, the land tax is divided into summer tax and autumn grain, mainly rice and wheat, which can be commuted to silver.

The summer tax is levied starting each June, mainly wheat and cash notes; in recent years it is mostly commuted to silver—for example, Suzhou prefecture's annual summer tax wheat amounts to about 100,000 shi.

The autumn grain tax begins each October, mainly rice.

According to the Jing Sheng "Da Han Huidian", the four prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang each collect over 3 million shi of autumn grain annually, accounting for nearly 20% of the court's total.

The salt tax mainly comes from the Lianghuai salt works, with the silver paid into the state treasury.

Jiangnan borders the Lianghuai salt works; the salt tax is collected by the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office.

In the early Jing Sheng era, the Lianghuai salt works yielded about 500,000 taels of silver annually, part of which was transshipped via Jiangnan, also an important source of court revenue.

Commercial and miscellaneous taxes are levied at customs passes and market towns.

Jiangnan's market towns are densely populated, with customs barriers and tax bureaus established to collect commercial taxes.

For example, the Suzhou Huxuguan customs pass once yielded over 80,000 taels of silver annually, making it one of the Da Han Empire's eight major customs passes; besides, there are also deed tax, livestock tax, and other miscellaneous revenues.

Moreover, in recent years there have been additional "three provisions" levies; since the Taishang Huang ascended the throne, to cope with the Liaodong war, an extra "Liao provision" has been imposed.

An additional nine copper cents per mu were added, but last year Jing Sheng Di already issued an edict abolishing it.

Thus, when the court runs out of money, the first thing it thinks of is always Jiangnan, because Jiangnan is the financial core of the Da Han court.

This is also why Jing Sheng Di, when implementing the New Policies, first considered carrying them out in Jiangnan, and why he sent the court grand minister Gong Dingzi as an imperial commissioner to personally take charge in Jiangnan.

It is simply because Jiangnan's tax contribution to the Da Han Empire is too important!

As soon as Jing Sheng Di said this, Wang Ziteng hastily bowed and expressed his thanks!

While Fang Congzhe's expression turned grim; he is a native of Suzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, a leader of the Zhe faction, representing the interests of the Jiangnan gentry.

Jing Sheng Di's urging of tax collection and investigation of deficits in Jiangnan undoubtedly expresses his dissatisfaction with Fang Congzhe's earlier admonition.

However, would the Son of Heaven not fear provoking the gentry's discontent and sparking a popular uprising by being so harsh toward Jiangnan?

And what about this little brat Jia Jing and the northwestern war—must they not be mentioned at all?

I merely made a few indirect remarks, and yet the Son of Heaven strikes me so hard?

Before the officials in the hall could think much more, Jing Sheng Di continued with a cold, stern expression, speaking in a low voice:

"Regarding possible disasters that may occur in Henan and elsewhere, the cabinet should draft a memorial in the coming days; the court must prepare in advance, taking preventive measures."

"As for the war in the northwest..."

Jing Sheng Di paused a moment, lightly tapped his fingers on the imperial desk, pondered briefly, and said:

"The northwest has seen continuous fighting for several months; the soldiers have toiled hard, achieving merit for the state."

"The Champion Marquis, with nine victories in nine battles, has cleared the plains, causing our Da Han military prestige to spread far, the barbarians to flee far away—this is merit beyond compare!"

"Today Zi Jie submitted a memorial to me indicating his intention to withdraw the troops; however, I mean that it would be best to let him remain in the northwest for a while longer."

"First, Zi Jie still needs time to organize the northwestern military affairs; it cannot be abandoned midway."

"Second, the False Qing and Hunye have unjustly mobilized troops, invaded our Da Han territory, slaughtered our people and soldiers; although they have now sent envoys to discuss peace, they show no sincerity and feel no remorse."

"If this time we cannot give them a lesson, I fear these barbarian tribes, who respect might but not virtue, will come again to tweak the Da Han tiger's whiskers!"

"In order to give an account to the Da Han soldiers and civilians who died miserably, and so that the court can later implement the New Policies with peace of mind and develop national strength."

"I have resolved to let Zi Jie lead the nine-border campaigns, delivering a crushing blow to the False Qing and Hunye, in order to compel them to accept our peace terms."

Jing Sheng Di's voice rose a little at this point; he struck the front of the imperial desk with his hand and spoke loudly:

"I want all the enemies of the nine borders to know that whoever offends our Da Han, no matter how far, will surely be punished; this is certainly not empty talk!"

When Jing Sheng Di said this, the hall fell into complete silence.

His words conveyed two layers of meaning.

First, Jia Jing himself already intended to withdraw his troops; he is certainly not the sort of official who clings to power with selfish motives, as the court officials claim.

This is to preserve Jia Jing's reputation and ease the civil officials' hostility toward him.

Second, he is determined to fight another battle in the northwest, using war to promote peace.

Given Jing Sheng Di's present prestige, once he has made this decision, others naturally have no room to oppose it.

However, from Jing Sheng Di's words we can also know that this will be the final battle, mainly serving as military coercion to ensure the peace talks proceed smoothly.

The civil officials, upon understanding this, also showed a bit more delight in their expressions.

Jing Sheng Di lifted the tea cup that Xia Shouzhong had passed over, took a sip, glanced at the ministers' expressions, and then said:

"Now the grasslands have been pacified, the century‑long frontier trouble in the northwest was eliminated by Zi Jie in a single battle! This achievement will be praised for ages! It greatly boosts our dynasty's military morale!"

"Since all the ministers are present today, we shall discuss the titles and rewards for Zi Jie and the northwestern generals. What rank should be conferred? A decision must be made today!"

When Jing Sheng Di said this, the ministers' spirits were shaken, realizing the main act had begun!