Gu Jiu immediately issued a gag order.
"According to the decree of my palace, all accounting accountants involved in the calculation of this ledger will be concentrated in the annex of the archives, where all food and drink are provided. Without the permission of my palace, no one is allowed to leave the annex of the archives. At the same time, an embroidered guard will be sent The archives are fenced off, and not a single fly is allowed in."
When Ma Xiaoliu heard this, he panicked.
"Reporting to the Empress, the Shaofu still has hundreds of accountants in the archives."
"No one is allowed to leave. Only Deng Cunli and His Royal Highness King Qi are allowed to enter the archives to obtain the real data of the ledger. In addition, anyone who dares to enter the archives without the permission of the Palace will be charged with treason."
Gu Jiu was rarely serious, with a rare killing intent in his eyes.
It can be seen how important this matter is.
Ma Xiaoliu shuddered and bowed to accept the order, "Old servant obeys."
Gu Jiu put her hand on the ledger, and she stared at Ma Xiaoliu, "Anyone who touched this ledger, including you, consciously squatted in the archives. Next, Xu Yousi will supervise you. "
Ma Xiaoliu panicked, "Your Majesty, you know, I never looked through this account book."
"I believe you! It's just the rules, so I can only wrong you for a while."
Ma Xiaoliu nodded heavily, "This old slave will write down the list."
Gu Jiu summoned Xu Yousi, "You are here to supervise this matter, if there is any mistake, bring the head to see."
Xu Yousi looked at Ma Xiaoliu with disgust and contempt in his eyes.
As if Ma Xiaoliu is a troublemaker.
Ma Xiaoliu felt wronged.
How did he know that this account book is so important. Had he known this, he would never have touched the account books, he would not have even asked about it.
After arranging numerous measures, Gu Jiu was still worried.
He also ordered the intelligence department to keep an eye on the archives and everyone who had access to the account book.
…
Deng Cunli and His Royal Highness King Qi received orders successively.
Both of them were taken aback.
"The mother sealed the password after reading the budget book. It seems that the data in the budget book is likely to be a powder keg."
He vaguely guessed the truth, but stopped short.
He and Deng Cunli met. The two had never cooperated before, but they had a tacit understanding on this matter.
"Each county government's ledgers come out separately, without totaling. If there are too many acres, the ledgers will be made in units of townships. Although it is a bit troublesome, it is better than safety."
Without totaling accounts, even if a ledger is lost, or the data of some books is passed on, it will not affect the overall situation.
The King of Qi asked Deng Cunli, "Can the gag order spread to every county in the world in half a month?"
"No!" Deng Cunli was very straightforward. "The world is too big and the time is too short. Not every place has built concrete roads. But basically, two-thirds of the people can be notified. Within a month, we can ensure that all notifications are in place."
"It's not bad to have two-thirds, thank you, Eunuch Deng."
"Your Highness is welcome."
…
Gu Jiu sent someone to invite Liu Zhao to the study.
Screen back left and right.
She turned out the budget book and put it in front of him.
Liu Zhao showed doubts on his face.
Gu Jiu pouted, motioning him to read the ledger first.
Liu Zhao opened the ledger, flipping through the pages one by one, his expression gradually became serious.
Snapped!
He forcefully closed the ledger.
Rubbing between his eyebrows again, he said, "If the difference between the budget and the actual income is not too big, this is a good thing, but it is also a bad thing."
Gu Jiu sighed, "I was thinking, when the autumn harvest tax is over, everyone will be concerned about this year's tax revenue, and will directly ask about it in the morning. What will I say then? Fortunately, at the beginning, this part of the right was stripped from the household department, so that The Shaofu is responsible. Otherwise, the news has been leaked now, and you and I will become the enemies of officials all over the world. They would like to drink our blood and eat our flesh."
Liu Zhao looked at her, "What do you think? Make a yin and yang ledger, or lower taxes?"
"Ten taxes and one tax rate is already an extremely low tax rate, and it cannot be lowered any further."
"Then you can only make a fake account book, and the accounts are the same as the taxes in previous years."
Liu Zhao thought it over and over again, this is the best way.
If the officials of the world know that this year's agricultural tax is many times that of previous years, and the income is still obtained under the condition of reducing the tax rate, they must hate the couple.
The extra part was all taken out from the pockets of wealthy gentry and royal family members.
They have always been the ones who plundered the common people, and this time it was their turn to be plundered by the emperor and empress. One can imagine how they felt.
Gu Jiu smiled wryly.
What is this called!
Excessive taxation has become a burden instead.
You have to hide it left and right.
"Are we asking for trouble?"
Liu Zhao nodded again and again, "Now that I think about it, it's better to be a conservative king, it's easy and happy. Keep the rules of the ancestors, and do everything according to the old rules. As long as you don't encounter natural disasters, man-made disasters, or frontier wars, you can be safe and secure. He should be praised by a wise king. Hey, I also asked for trouble, and beat the north and the south. Now I have offended all the officials, gentry and aristocrats, including scholars, it is really thankless."
Gu Jiu smiled and asked, "Do you regret it? Now you can also be a successful king."
Liu Zhao shook his head and waved his hands, "No, no! I'm used to conquering the world and fighting with officials all over the world. This will make me stop, and I will never succeed. I have already seen that the hearts of the court officials are fluctuating, and everyone is chasing their own little ones. abacus."
"Is there a way to deal with it?"
Liu Zhao laughed, "It's nothing more than being pointed at the nose by those censors and scolding you as a fool."
Gu Jiu let out a chuckle, "I still remember a few years ago, every time someone called you a fool, you would jump in anger. Now you don't care at all, and you seem to be enjoying it."
"Since I'm called a Hunjun, I don't do things that only a Hunjun does. I'm sorry for being called a Hunjun. It's good to be a Hunjun. If you insist on going your own way, who dares to stop me, I will copy his family and destroy his family."
Liu Zhao really looks like a foolish king.
Gu Jiu pursed his lips and smiled, "I thought about it, this year's good tax harvest, on the one hand, can be used to increase the amount of relief funds for disabled soldiers, and on the other hand, pensions can also be mobilized. Do it early, so that you can block the courtiers Q."
"Is it worth spending so much money on pensions?"
Gu Jiu nodded, "It's worth it! Compared with what we received, this little money is nothing."
Liu Zhao asked her, "Who are you going to ask for the account book?"
It is not an easy job to keep the secret from all the courtiers about the yin and yang accounts.
"I plan to do it myself." Gu Jiu was thinking about this question from the beginning.
Liu Zhao resolutely objected, "No way! This matter is exhausting and laborious, do you want to kill yourself?"
Gu Jiu laughed, "It's not as serious as you think. It's just doing accounts..."
"If you say you can't do it, you can't do it. I will depend on you for other things, but this matter can't depend on you. You often say that you have to do all the tricks, and if you want to hide the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, it is not enough to just make a ledger , must make out the accounts of each county and even each township, and make a complete set of well-documented accounts. How can you do such a heavy burden. You will be exhausted to death!"
Gu Jiu frowned, "If I don't do it, who will do it?"
Liu Zhao said with a straight face, "I'm looking for someone to do it."
"You don't have anyone who is good at arithmetic at all. As you said, such a large workload cannot be completed by a few people."
"Then what do you say?" Liu Zhao was angry.
Gu Jiu picked up the budget ledger, "You can refer to the ledgers from previous years and make a copy."
Liu Zhao stared wide-eyed, "Copy a set?"
Gu Jiu nodded heavily.
Liu Zhao snorted: "Even if you want to copy one set, you will need a lot of people. Do you have someone to choose? Anyway, you can't do it yourself."
Gu Jiu pondered for a while, "You can use the accounting office of the Shaofu. They are counting the population of the fields in the archives, and it may be feasible to send some people out to make an accounting book."
Liu Zhao thought about it carefully, "I'm not at ease! The people in the Shaofu have various backgrounds, maybe someone will leak the news, and we still have to use trustworthy people."
"Then I can only call Qingzhu, Qingmei, Ah Qing and the others back. They are all trained by me. They are reliable and trustworthy! And they are three points better than many old accountants in accounting."
"Just a few of them, is it enough?"
"It's definitely not enough! You can only work harder and stay up late every day to do it."
Liu Zhao pondered for a while, "Okay! Just use them."
It should not be too late, the next morning, Gu Jiu sent the palace staff to invite Qingmei and the others to the palace to start making books.
This is a vast and secretive project.
In case the news leaked out, Gu Jiu directly ordered the closure of the side hall where Qingmei and the others lived.
No one is allowed in without her permission.
Nanny Fang, who has been out of the palace for the elderly, took the initiative to take on the important task of delivering meals.
…
The first day of August came in a blink of an eye.
All the people in the world, from high-ranking officials to dignitaries, down to ordinary people in the market, are all paying attention to this day and watching the movements of the Shaofu.
Outside the Shaofu yamen, people came and went, and came and went, it was as lively as a market.
Although they couldn't see anything, the common people still happily passed by the Shaofu Yamen, and then stretched their necks to take a look inside.
The household department next door is deserted.
The entire yamen, from top to bottom, is full of low air pressure, which is suffocatingly cold.
It is a great shame and shame that the tax was robbed by the Shaofu.
This is tantamount to seizing power!
Mr. Qin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was under tremendous pressure, but his elbow could not twist his thigh. What could he do
He could only silently bear the complaints from his subordinates.
"This old man must be the most unlucky one among the previous household ministers."
Master Qin sighed.
"I don't know how long the old man can sit in this position."
He touched the chair under him, really hated this position.
Perhaps His Majesty will continue to use him for the sake of his obedience.
It's also possible that His Majesty couldn't bear the pressure and took him out to take the blame.
Why!
The future is unpredictable!
Lord Qin has a melancholy look on his face!