It wasn't that Song Yingchang hadn't thought of Li Si's question. On the contrary, he knew that North Korea would definitely bring up such a matter. Daming had obtained so much reparations from Japan. In fact, Xiao Ruxun had used North Korea's righteous cause to ask Japan for the loss of 500,000 North Korean civilians. Just this alone gave Xiao Ruxun an excuse of a few million taels of silver.
But if the Ming Dynasty Army hadn't fought to the death, they wouldn't have been able to obtain this sum of money. North Korea's situation wasn't good, but would Daming, who was gradually entering his twilight years, be any better? Daming wasn't good either. Daming's income was just as low, and he was also relying on the reparations to clean up the mess in his country. If the money was distributed to the North Koreans, there wouldn't be any problems for North Korea, but Daming would be in big trouble.
Song Yingchang was very clear about the shameless things those bureaucrats had done. These days, when those bureaucrats learned that the Great Ming Empire was going to receive a huge sum of compensation, they were all eager to spend this sum of money. They built palaces, built the Great Wall, built cities, built roads, built rivers, and so on. All of these plans, which would cause a lot of arguments in the imperial court in the past, were put forward.
The Ministry of Works, Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Justice also joined in the fun. The Ministry of Personnel also shamelessly asked for money. Some asked for a few hundred thousand taels of silver, while others asked for a few hundred thousand taels of silver. One of them asked for a million taels of silver, and the other asked for a few hundred thousand taels of silver. In just a few moments, they had divided the quota of tens of millions of taels of silver.
When the Emperor found out about this plan, he directly issued a decree to the Six Ministers, scolding them harshly. They were fined their salaries for a year and ordered to scrap the plan. He also decreed that the reparations must be used under the arrangement of the Emperor and the Cabinet. The Six Ministries were not allowed to use it privately. Once the silver arrived in the capital, it would enter the National Treasury. The National Treasury would be guarded by the Imperial Bodyguard. Any department that wanted to use the silver had to report to the Emperor and the Cabinet in advance. Without the Emperor's permission, no one was allowed to use the compensation.
The first thing the Emperor had to do was to pay the salaries of the officials that had been accumulated over the years. Everything else could be dealt with later.
The six departments were all stunned. Then, they eagerly began to draft a plan to use the money. First, they began to bite each other. The previous harmonious atmosphere was gone forever. One department asked for money, and the other also asked for money. The various departments quarreled with each other.
Daming the Imperial Court was so poor that they were willing to die for the sake of money. That was why the situation in the country was so turbulent. How was Song Yingchang supposed to respond to Li Si's expectations?
Li Si was really looking forward to getting a sum of money. He didn't need a lot, just a few hundred thousand would do. Daming would take 90%, and North Korea would take 10%. Even for a small country like North Korea, it would still be a huge sum of money. They would be able to live a difficult life instead of starving to death. That was indeed the situation in North Korea. When the Japanese arrived, they burned down houses and fields. This year's spring plowing in North Korea was delayed. There were many places that were unable to organize spring plowing. There were not enough officials, and the refugees were unable to organize the plowing.
At that time, Li Si had asked Song Yingchang for help. Song Yingchang had generously sent twenty to thirty officials to help the North Koreans organize spring plowing. However, they could only do their job in Seoul. There were many remote areas that were beyond their reach. If nothing unexpected happened, North Korea would face a food shortage next year, which would inevitably require Daming's assistance. Therefore, he might as well settle it all at once to avoid any unhappiness.
Song Yingchang finally understood that Li Si wanted to make a deal with Daming. Previously, Daming did not need North Korea's help, so Li Si could only thicken his skin and come. Now that Daming needed North Korea's help, North Korea also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to gain some benefits.
This was considered normal and not out of line. After all, everyone needed to eat. If they did not let the North Koreans eat their fill, it would create a large number of refugees. When the time came, they would have to trouble Daming. If Daming really wanted North Korea, he would have already agreed to Li Si's request and directly annexed North Korea. Daming only kept North Korea as a barrier. In any case, North Korea had always been respectful to Daming.
"How about this, Your Majesty. If you can send troops to guard Tsushima Island, this old man will help Your Majesty ask Emperor Daming to allocate 50,000 taels of disaster relief silver to North Korea."
Song Yingchang wouldn't stupidly open his mouth and say a few hundred thousand. He had to pull down Li Ge's expectations. He couldn't give Li Ge the impression that Big Ming was very rich. Otherwise, this fellow would really treat Big Ming as a money bag and climb up along the pole, not caring about the difference in intimacy at all.
"50,000 taels? Grand Duke Song, this … isn't this a little too little? Your Majesty, Daming received 4,000,000 taels of silver! Can't this be a little more? "
Li Si's face immediately turned ugly.
Song Yingchang put on a bitter expression.
"Your Majesty, you don't know, but Daming is also in a difficult position. Daming indeed received 4,000,000 taels of silver, but this compensation is spread over five years. Daming can only receive 800,000 taels of silver a year, and it is not paid now. It will take another half a year or so before Japan can send the money over. Since you are in such urgent need of money, Daming can only pay from his own pocket. But Daming has just finished the war, how much money does Daming have left in his pocket?
Your Majesty, you have to think about others when you do things. Daming has done his utmost for North Korea, but now Daming also needs a lot of money for disaster relief, compensation for the bereaved, logistics, and dealing with the aftermath of the war. Many soldiers need to be rewarded, and many generals need to be rewarded even more. How can he have so much money to use? Your Majesty, think about it carefully, don't you agree? "
Li Si did not speak and lowered his head, looking like an aggrieved wife.
"That is true, but, but Grand Duke Song, 50,000 taels of silver is too little. It is not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth. The deficit in North Korea's national treasury is too big, and we can't do anything about it. You … what should we do?"
Song Yingchang's face turned bitter as he sighed and said, "Then, this old man will add another 30,000 taels? 80,000 taels of silver, no more! Any more and Daming will not be able to take it! "
"100,000! Duke Song, I request the Great Ming Dynasty to help Joseon one last time. One hundred thousand taels of silver. If this King doesn't handle this matter well, then I will submit a report to the Great Ming Emperor to abdicate the throne and cease to be the King of Joseon! Grand Duke Song, what do you think? "
Li Si looked at Song Yingchang nervously, afraid that he would hear a 'no' from Song Yingchang. If that happened, he would collapse.
His prayer seemed to be heard by the heavens, and he saw Song Yingchang in a dilemma. Song Yingchang's expression was uncertain, and finally, as if he had made up his mind, he fiercely slammed the table.
"Good! 100,000 taels of silver it is. This old man will help you this time! But if you cannot defend Tsushima well, His Majesty Daming will definitely come and punish you! "
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