Chapter 1273: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (One Hundred and Sixty-Three) The Fussy Wang Wudi

Wang Wudi stood in the study room far away, looking at the much brighter room. He walked straight to the window, stretched out his hand, and gently stroked the newly installed glass, "Your Majesty, what is this? Why is this? transparent?"

"This is glass. How about it? Is it okay?" Gao Yuan raised his head triumphantly and looked at the old finance minister in front of him who was also over sixty years old. To be honest, although this finance minister was not very lovable, he often He was thinking about how to get some money from Gaoyuan and put it into the treasury, but as a great steward of the country, he was really a very good guy.

"Is this something newly thought up by the king? Is it valuable?" Wang Wudi asked.

A vigilant expression immediately appeared in Gao Yuan's eyes: "How could I come up with this? This is a former soldier of mine. , didn’t he retire and leave the palace later? He brought a few master craftsmen to make it, and specially presented a batch to me. The price is indeed very expensive, but this window is very expensive. Fifty or sixty yuan!”

"Fifty or sixty yuan, such a small piece?" The old finance minister almost fell to the ground. He was still reaching out to touch her, but he immediately retracted his hand. On the other side, Central Bank Governor Mei Yipo also widened his eyes with a surprised expression on his face.

"Of course, the glass installed on the windows around my study room alone is worth thousands of dollars? What do you think, Minister Wang, are you interested in installing this thing at home? I'll definitely give you a discount if you go. ." Gao Yuan said with a smile.

"Forget it, forget it!" Wang Wuyi waved his hands repeatedly, "Forget it about my salary. With this money, I would rather buy more meat to eat!" Wang Wuyi shook his head repeatedly and laughed. "But Your Majesty, is this really caused by the soldier? Ahem, this is easy to check. Since he has done this business, I can always find out his details."

Gao Yuan stared at Wang Wu for a long time, then said with a hint of embarrassment: "Well, well, I paid for the research, but the technology does belong to them."

Wang Wudi immediately beamed with joy, "That's great!" He clapped his hands and laughed.

"What's good?" Gao Yuan asked, staring at him.

"I will send someone to take a look later. Since the king paid for it, the court has a share in the workshop! I think the market for this thing is not small, and there are many rich people like us. I, Wang Wu, can't afford it. But there are a lot of people who can afford it, tsk tsk, and it’s a unique business in the world. Your Majesty, according to what I know about you, the cost of this thing must not be high, right?” Wang Wudi said happily, without caring. Gao Yuan's face has turned dark.

"Wang Wu, this is my own money. What does it have to do with the court? You can't even think about it!" Gao Yuan shouted.

"Kings,

You are the king of the Han Dynasty, and this Han Dynasty is yours, naturally. Yours also belongs to the country. Your Majesty, don’t be so arrogant. Don’t look at us big men who are prospering now. Our national strength is strong, but that is what outsiders see, and our foundation is weak. It's weak inside. The treasury has never been full. We have to spend money everywhere. Every time when the year-end budget begins, the county governors from all over the country will cross the threshold of the ministers. They are so scared that the ministers dare not go home. Hurry up, big council. It has become a battleground. For the sake of their local interests, the great councilors are all eyeing the national treasury, hoping that the court will allocate more subsidies to their local areas. Your Majesty, let me do the math... "

"Don't give it to me, you are the Minister of Finance." Gao Yuan knocked on the table angrily.

"Okay, okay, this doesn't count. Let's talk about the things in Jicheng City. You know what the annual budget of the Comprehensive University is, right? How much money does the Yizhen Research Institute and the Weapons Research Institute eat in a year? You know what’s going on, right?”

"Humph, this is all your responsibility. How much money the country earns in a year and how to spend it is what you should worry about. I tell you, Mr. Wang Wu, don't even think about my personal ideas. If you don't have enough money, you have to live within your means. , By the way, I can’t remember that you didn’t mention the money. The total salary that the court should pay me and my family members is 200,000 yuan every year, right? It’s been several years, three years, right? Six hundred thousand yuan, Wei Yuan, Wei Yuan!”

"Your Majesty, I'm here!" He Weiyuan, who was standing in the corner of the room, flattened his lips and walked out holding back a smile, "Here are the IOUs that Minister Wang has written to me in the past few years. His Ministry of Finance lent me such a personal amount of money. Now, Just give it back to me.”

He Weiyuan walked to the side of the study with a smile, took out a small box, and took out several IOUs handwritten by Wang Wu, with the bright red seal of the Ministry of Finance stamped on them.

"Did you write this? Did you write this?" Gao Yuan waved the IOU in front of Wang Wu's eyes.

"I have bad eyesight. Please take a closer look, Your Majesty." Wang Wudi stretched out his hand.

"Hahaha!" Gao Yuan laughed and retracted his hand quickly, "You old guy, you are doing this again with me. The one hundred thousand IOU last time, you just took it and stuffed it with me as an excuse. I ate it in my mouth, and I want to repeat the same trick again. If I fall for you once, you are cruel, but if I fall for you twice, I am stupid!"

The attempt was shattered, but there was no trace of shame on Wang Wu's face. Instead, he said sternly: "Your Majesty, please don't slander me. As the Minister of Finance, how could I do such a thing? The Ministry of Finance under my jurisdiction has strict accounts and no There is no loophole. Is there any physical evidence for this matter?”

"Look, look, Yipo, this is our finance minister." Gao Yuan was so happy that he turned to look at Mei Yipo on the side, who smiled and said nothing.

"Wei Yuan, put it away carefully and hide it in another place. Minister Wang often comes to my place. If I am not here that day, and he copies it out and eats it all as snacks, I will suffer a big loss."

"I understand!" He Weiyuan chuckled and walked out holding the small box.

Wang Wudi sighed, "Your Majesty, this whole country belongs to you. What do you want to do with so much money? Let me calculate it for you. Procter & Gamble, you have shares, and now Procter & Gamble's product marketing Tianxia, ​​your annual dividend is about 500,000 yuan. You have shares in Wu's Liquor Industry and the dividend is even greater. Now you have an annual income of one million yuan. You sent people to buy shares in Liaodong Mining and Smelting. Although I have been investing in it for the past few years, but starting from last year, I started to make profits. In the first year, my income exceeded one million yuan. From these three businesses alone, my annual income exceeded 2.5 million yuan. How did you do this? Are you still fussing over the salary of 200,000 yuan?"

"It's mine, it's mine." Gao Yuan snorted: "This is the law. How can it be easily abandoned? Hey, Wang Wu, how do you know how much money I made last year?"

Wang Wudi sighed and said: "Your Majesty, is this difficult for me? I just calculated it from the tax revenue of these companies and factories."

Gao Yuan's eyes widened and he was speechless.

"You are holding back my salary. I have a big family to support, right? Can the Wang family lose their dignity? This costs a lot of money! If not for anything else, just talk about the guards in this palace, girl. . Worker, why don’t I give you some reward for the holidays? Wei Yuan, how much will it cost?”

He Weiyuan, who had just hidden the small box, came back. After hearing this, he quickly nodded cooperatively, "Yes, yes, last year, including wages and rewards, we spent hundreds of thousands of yuan!"

"Even so, it's just a drop in the bucket!" Wang Wudi said dissatisfiedly: "The king is not short of money, but the country is short of money."

Mei Yipo on the side laughed and said: "Minister Wang, let's put this matter aside for now. Have you forgotten the serious business of our visit today?"

Wang Wudi suddenly came to his senses. He nodded repeatedly, "I was led into a ditch by the king. Yes, yes, yes, let's talk business."

What does it mean to be led into a ditch by me? Gao Yuan's nose was almost crooked with anger. There is really nothing he can do about this finance minister who is always willing to spend every penny.

"Your Majesty, Minister Wang is right about one thing. Now the big man really doesn't have enough money. According to the King's instructions, the collegiality of the Great Council and the budget of the Political Hall, the central government will support local governments with subsidies of hundreds of millions of yuan next year. , especially places like Yuanqi and Wei, require large amounts of capital investment, and the central bank is preparing to expand the issuance of coins next year." Mei Yi said.

Gao Yuan was a little worried, "Will increasing the amount of money cause inflation? This is no joke. I have always felt that it is better to live within one's means." Gao Yuan didn't know much about these things, but he knew that inflation Bloat is no fun.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, Dahan's economy is now on the upswing. All walks of life are booming. Everyone is eager to expand the scale and make their business bigger and stronger, but without exception, they are short of money! Moderate stimulation, for Dahan The economy is definitely positive. The central bank and the Ministry of Finance have met many times on this matter, and they have held dozens of seminars. The final conclusion is that the amount of money should be increased at this time to stimulate the market.”

"If you think these things can be done, then do it." Gao Yuan waved his hand.

"Yes, Minister Wang and I are here to report the relevant details to the king." Mei Yipo said.

It was getting late, but the three people talking in the study were unaware of the passage of time. He Weiyuan came in after staring at a few lights, and the room suddenly became brighter. Wang Wudi's eyes suddenly lit up. The lamps placed on Gaoyuan's table were not the oil lamps he usually used, but were like handicrafts. He reached out and touched the lamp holder, "Your Majesty, these are also glass. Made of this? And this lampshade, right?"

Gao Yuan nodded, "Not bad, how about it? It's a lot brighter than the oil lamps we don't often use, isn't it?"

"Not only does it light up a lot, this lamp holder, when placed on the table, can illuminate at night and can also be used as an ornament during the day. It is very beautiful!" Mei Yipo praised, "I will add this glass to my home. Come on, I want to buy a few more of these lamps. I’ll check them every day. The lights are dim and my eyes are tired!”

"Go back to Wei Yuan and ask him to make arrangements for you. The current production of glass is insufficient and the lamps are even less. Ask him to make arrangements for you!" Gao Yuan said with a smile: "Come on, let's continue talking."

When the palace clapper struck twice, the discussion in the study finally ended. Wang Wuyi and Mei Yipo said goodbye. When Wang Wuyi stood up, he unceremoniously grabbed a lamp on the table in his hand. "Your Majesty, I am old and have bad eyesight. Please bring a lamp to illuminate the road so as not to fall." After saying this, he took the beautiful lamp and staggered out the door.

"This old guy is really blatantly robbing!" Looking at Wang Wudi's back, Gao Yuan shook his head and sighed. (To be continued...)