1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 536: Tight Finances

The voyage from Sanya Port on Hainan Island to several major ports in Nanyang is more than 1500 nautical miles, and the voyage to Batavia has even exceeded [-] nautical miles. If there is no reliable supply transfer point during such a long voyage, For the crew and sailors running on this route, the risk is indeed quite high.This is also one of the reasons why some Ming maritime merchants dare not open up South China Sea trade routes without authorization, although they covet the huge profits from ocean trade.

However, Haihan's medium and long-term strategy is to enclose the entire South China Sea under his own name as his own territory, and based on this, to realize the monopoly of maritime trade between the East and the West.In order to realize this long-term plan, controlling the main waterway from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean is a necessary means.One place in Malacca and one in Batavia are the places that will be contested in the future. Of course, it is necessary to have a powerful navy first to conquer such a distant goal.

Although the strength of the militia navy is already one of the best in the South China Sea, its scope of activities is still very limited, and it does not have enough ability to send troops south to compete with the old maritime power, the Netherlands, for the ports in the South China Sea.This is not only clear to the generals of the military, but people in other departments also understand this fact.At the beginning, the executive committee anxiously obtained the land and development rights of the four southern ports from the Annan court, and it was precisely to prepare for the future deployment in the direction of the South China Sea.

What Yan Chujie wants to emphasize is the important role that the navy will play in the southward expansion of the Haihan layout, as well as the scale and necessity of fleet expansion required to complete these tasks.Linking the naval expansion with Haihan's overall strategic planning, it will be difficult for others to oppose the military's budget.

But having said that, Yan Chujie's report did not exaggerate too much. The current size of the militia navy really cannot support the strategic intention of the executive committee to expand south. If the simultaneous expansion of commerce and military is to be achieved, then expanding the navy is indeed Measures that must be implemented immediately.In fact, considering the shipbuilding cycle, the entry time of the next batch of warships will definitely lag behind the speed of the expansion of trade routes. Therefore, Yan Chujie knew that such a budget proposal would be strongly opposed, but he still insisted on his own opinion.

Yan Chujie put forward his reasons from a professional point of view, and it is indeed too difficult for opponents to refute him in this field.Tao Donglai saw that Gu Kai and Ning Qi were misfired one after another, so he asked, "Does anyone else have any additional comments on the military's budget?"

"I would like to say a few words on behalf of the Ministry of Shipping." Yue Zhiyun raised his hand and said: "Everyone, the cost of building and using steam-powered sailboats is still very high, but this is indeed the future development direction of shipbuilding technology. What we have mastered All kinds of technologies beyond the times need to be practically applied in the military field, and then gradually spread to the civilian field. Not only warships, but also our merchant ships will sooner or later use more advanced power systems. The current high cost is mainly due to Because our production capacity is limited, mass construction is the most effective way to reduce costs for our current situation. I believe my colleagues in the Ministry of Industry will also agree with me. Leaving aside the military expenditure, it is only about the shipbuilding plan. , Our Ministry of Shipping very much agrees with the military’s proposal.”

"Xiaoyue is indeed right." Bex, representing the Ministry of Industry, took up the conversation and said, "Before when we produced steam engines for the navy, we made one prototype and two mass-produced models, and then stopped working. After preparing for more than a year, the equipment, personnel, and venues were all prepared for this steam engine. The executive committee stopped work and disrupted all arrangements. Everyone thinks that the cost of new warships is high. Can the cost of building the west and the west be not high?"

The Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Industry expressed their attitudes one after another, supporting the military's naval expansion plan, which blocked the mouths of opponents.In the end, although the navy failed to obtain the requested military budget, it still increased by 80% from this year's level, which is considered a victory.

This debate is only one part of the agenda of the budget and final accounts meeting at the end of the year.In fact, with the rapid expansion of Haihan, various departments are requesting to increase the budget and expand the department staff.Including representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education who spoke out against the military, their departments also need higher budgets to achieve normal operations.As far as the overall situation of Haihan is concerned, the land and population obtained by the rapid expansion in the past one or two years have not been fully converted into economic benefits, and there have been almost no war dividends in the past year. Money is spent and money is spent again, but the increase in income can't keep up a bit.

"Everyone, if the budgets of various departments can be passed, then we have only one way to go, and that is immediate bankruptcy!" Schneider had to give a simple explanation of the current situation to the people present: "According to my Based on the data recorded at the meeting in the past two days, and comparing the budgets proposed by various departments with this year's fiscal revenue, we will probably have... a fiscal deficit of 270 million yuan. This means that unless our revenue increases next year by more than 270 million, otherwise, we will not be able to make ends meet in the next year, and we may be in trouble because of the problem of capital turnover."

"What is the expected revenue of the Ministry of Finance for the next year?" Someone asked sharply.

"Our conservative estimate is to maintain this year's level. Everyone knows that our fiscal revenue mainly comes from foreign trade, because it is impossible to predict how much the Qiongbei region will affect our foreign trade. In addition, the investment in Qiongbei is also very important. It may not stay at the budget figure proposed now, and the deficit may further increase.” Schneider did not give a detailed figure, but tactfully bypassed it: “But what I can be sure of now is that if there is no foreign trade If there is a particularly large breakthrough, then the fiscal deficit will be unavoidable!"

Since time travel, the biggest factor hindering Haihan's development has always been manpower. If we can have sufficient human resources, Haihan's development speed will be at least half a year faster than it is now.Relying on cheap industrial products produced by various advanced means, as well as a centralized financial system, Haihan has amassed wealth at the fastest rate of its time.In the past few years, finance has never been a problem that plagued Haihan's development. However, with the acceleration of expansion, Haihan has to face new problems. The fundamental way to solve these problems lies in money. , but now the speed of making money can no longer keep up with the rhythm of spending money.

"I know that you will probably ask me what the solution is. In fact, there must be a solution. To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than four words, open source! Cut down!" Schneider said unhurriedly: "From increasing income On the one hand, we must increase the scale of foreign trade, and the only obstacle in this road is manpower. Facing the market of Daming, our production capacity is far from enough. Increasing fiscal revenue is a predictable goal, but To a certain extent, it will be affected by the speed and scale of immigration from outside the island in the coming year. Of course, if there are other ways to make quick money, such as launching a local war that ensures considerable benefits, I personally have no objection to a more radical approach .”

"As for throttling..." Schneider glanced at everyone present, and said slowly: "I believe that the budget proposals submitted by everyone are the result of repeated deliberation and calculation, but considering our financial In the end, some projects that are not so necessary will be reduced and cut off, and I hope everyone can understand.”

"Can't we raise part of the funds through other methods? For example, by selling bonds?" Someone put forward a new suggestion.

"Issuing bonds is indeed feasible in theory, but we have to consider the actual situation." Schneider explained: "If we sell bonds, it is equivalent to revealing a message to the outside world-our money is not enough. It took us a lot of time and effort to get the outside world to accept our financial system, and to make Ming merchants willing to store gold and silver in our banks, but these people may not understand the actual meaning of bonds. If money is at risk, our banks may face a run. Simply put, our current financial credit is not enough to support the sale of bonds. Perhaps this situation will gradually change after our regime is established. Once the naturalized people under our rule have a real sense of belonging, we can try to slowly issue government bonds internally. In short, to use this method, it will take a while to wait for the external conditions to mature."

Among the people here, only Schneider is a true financial expert, so this kind of question is basically his own final decision.Even if others want to raise doubts, it is difficult to have an in-depth debate with him in this professional field—just like no one can refute the gang of the Military Commission in the military field by lip service.

The results of the meeting were not satisfactory. Except for a few departments, the faces of most department heads were not very good when they left the meeting room.

Yan Chujie was undoubtedly one of the final winners of this meeting. Although the final approved budget did not meet the military's expected level, compared to other departments, the military's budget increase should be one of the best.In addition to immediately resuming the construction of the third Majestic-class warship, the military will also place a huge order to Victory Port Shipyard, including the construction of at least three other Majestic-class warships, and an Exploration-class ship with the current standard fleet configuration. and explorer-class warships.The total tonnage of this order will be close to [-] tons. In the next year, the shipyard will definitely be busy.

As soon as Yan Chujie arrived at the gate of Victory Fort, before he got into his special carriage, someone stopped him from behind.Yan Chujie looked back and saw that this was also one of the winners of today's meeting, Hao Wanqing, the deputy director of the security department.

"If Boss Yan is not in a hurry, can we have a chat?" Hao Wanqing came up and shook hands with Yan Chujie, and then said concisely: "I want to discuss some work matters with Boss Yan."

"Okay, no problem, my place or yours?" Yan Chujie said generously.

"It's time for dinner, let's find a place to eat and chat!" Hao Wanqing made a gesture of invitation: "I'll be the host!"

The restaurant Hao Wanqing was looking for was located in the Shengli Port business district, but it was Yan Chujie's first time eating here.The dishes on this table can’t be said to be very rich. They are basically home-cooked food, but the taste is very good. After a few mouthfuls, Yan Chujie couldn’t help but praise: “The chef here is very skilled! Why haven’t I heard of this before?” Family?"

"It's only been open for half a month, and the chef is an apprentice brought out by Fan Wei, and his skills must not be bad." Hao Wanqing pointed to the outside of the room and said: "Don't look at the small courtyard, there are not many rooms, and the decoration is not as good as those on the street. The restaurant is luxurious, but the business is good, and you have to queue up to make an appointment to eat here at night."

"This is the way to go to high-end private kitchens, it's pretty good..." Yan Chujie put down his chopsticks, stared at Hao Wanqing and said, "Is this place also owned by your security department?"

Hao Wanqing smiled noncommittally and said: "Sometimes we need to interview some people outside, so we have to find a suitable place in advance. We can't drag people to the security department every time."

Yan Chujie nodded and said: "Your place is indeed a bit panicky. It feels like you are about to be interrogated when you go there, and you can't talk properly... let's get down to business. I know you are a busy person, so there is no need to go around in circles. "

Hao Wanqing said: "Mr. Yan is so straightforward, so I'll get straight to the point. During the meeting today, I heard what Mr. Yan said that one of the purposes of the military's expansion of the fleet is to expand the scope of activities at sea to the south. Is that what you said?"

"That's right, that's exactly what we plan to do." Yan Chujie nodded and said, "Sooner or later, we have to take this step. The sooner we start preparations, the sooner we can reap the results. And it's not just our military that wants to do this, you can also see When we arrive, the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Commerce are on our side."

"After all, the interests are related, which is understandable." Hao Wanqing responded, "Then I would like to ask, what specific plans does the military have for Nanyang?"

"What do you want to know?" Yan Chujie didn't answer his question, but asked back.Although the Ministry of Security has a lot of authority, it is only outside the military system. For matters involving military secrets, Yan Chujie does not have to sell face to the Ministry of Security.

"Mr. Yan, please don't get me wrong. The purpose of my asking this question is not to find out the secrets of the military. I just want to know from the side and see if there is any possibility for our two departments to cooperate in Nanyang." Yan Chujie noticed the vigilance , Hao Wanqing immediately explained.

(End of this chapter)