I want to be emperor

Chapter 828 Vicious competition in Bangkok

In the summer and June of the 35th year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue once again held an imperial meeting on the development of Nanyang in Jinling City.

However, unlike the previous meetings where military issues took up a lot of space, the main issue in this meeting was immigration and development.

After all, with the voluntary surrender of the Kingdom of Aceh, there is no longer any indigenous regime in the entire Nanyang region, let alone large-scale military resistance.

In the next few years, military operations in the entire Nanyang region will be dominated by security operations. This type of security operations is normal, and it is mainly in charge of the local C-level garrison and militia units.

As for the regular troops, the first-class divisions simply regrouped to several strategic locations. For example, the eighth division, the first-class division, was stationed at the Dagon Port military base after completing its military combat missions in the Myanmar region.

The No.14 division was transferred back to Singapore.

After all, these two first-class divisions are the only first-class divisions of the Great Chu Empire in the entire Nanyang region. The area they are in charge of is not just Siam or Burma, but the entire Nanyang region.

Therefore, these two divisions need to be in a state of combat readiness that can go to any Nanyang region at any time. Naturally, under such circumstances, they cannot be stationed inland, but need to be stationed in coastal military ports that are convenient and maneuverable.

On the contrary, the second-class division may participate in some follow-up security operations. For example, the No.30 Sixth Division is currently stationed in several important cities and traffic arteries in Siam, including Bangkok, and is responsible for suppressing Siam and surrounding areas.

The No.70 Second Division transferred from Yunnan was stationed in Xiwa City. After the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar was attacked by the Chu army, it voluntarily gave up its capital Awa City (near Mandalay) during the war, and built a Before the evacuation, the fortified walls were cleared, and a large number of buildings in the city were actively burned. After the Chu army occupied this place, they did not build a new city on its ruins.

Well, the Burmese governor’s residence is not here either, it’s actually in Dagon Port in the south, but Ava City is still a city with a very important strategic position, located in the central area of ​​Burma.

After the army was stationed here, it stationed on the west side of the ruins of Ava City and established a military fortress city, which is also called Xiwa City.

The headquarters of the No. 70 Second Division is located in Xiwa City. Of course, it is impossible for such a large 72nd Division to have all its troops in Xiwa City. In fact, there are also defenses in several surrounding cities.

On the whole, the 72nd Division is responsible for the main defense of the hinterland of Myanmar, and it is also the main regular army unit to deal with the direction of the Mughal Empire in Bangladesh.

To the west of Myanmar is the Bengal region, which was annexed by the Mughal Empire nearly a hundred years ago.

The southwestern part of Myanmar is the Kingdom of Arakan, but the kingdom has already existed in name only. It was brought down by the Chu army more than ten years ago, and it was invaded many times by the Kingdom of Myanmar. In the end, Arakan There was only a very small area left in the Qian Kingdom, and most of its coastal areas were acquired by the Chu State. The Great Chu Empire took these coastal colonies, including Chittagong, plus a part of the Bengal coastal areas acquired from the Mughal Empire. areas, especially the Ganges estuary.

In the end, the Governor of Bangladesh was established, with Chittagong stationed.

The previous Burmese affairs were all in charge of the governor of Bangladesh, but after taking over Burma, the Great Chu Empire had formally established the post of governor of Burma not long ago, resident in Dagon, Burma.

It can be seen from the military deployment of the Great Chu Empire Army in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Siam that the Great Chu Empire Army believes that it is impossible for any large-scale war to break out there.

The army transferred the Eighth Division to Dagon for garrison, thinking that if there is a need in Bangladesh or even the Indian Peninsula, the Eighth Division, a first-class division, can be sent there nearby.

Even the Army is still considering whether to move the [-]th Division's garrison further west to Chittagong, where the Governor of Bangladesh is garrisoned.

It's just because the infrastructure in Chittagong is not very good for the time being, and there is no war there. The most important thing is that the Eighth Division has just fought in Burma for more than a year. At least the unit should be rested After a while, send them to the frontier again.

Therefore, the transfer of the division to the west has been left behind for the time being, but... the [-]th division will definitely be used in the direction of Bangladesh and even India in the future.

Today's army has never thought of continuing to use the elite first-class division of the Eighth Division in Myanmar and other regions.

For the local security operations, the C-class garrison division and the militia are enough, and if it is not possible, some B-class standing divisions are in charge, so there is no need for the expensive and elite troops of the A-class division.

The Great Chu Empire spends so much money every year to support these first-class combat readiness divisions, but it is not for them to fight for public security and play small fights.

Nowadays, the Great Chu Empire uses these first-class combat readiness divisions basically without moving, and when they move, they are rushing to destroy the country and the clan.

The Eighth Division and the No.14 Division destroyed Burma and Siam, and the new mixed battalion under the North American No.16 Division destroyed a tribe of thousands of North American natives, etc., all of which belonged to this situation.

If it is not rushing to destroy the country, then these first-class divisions might as well stay in the hinterland of the country for training and garrisoning.

Therefore, at present, the more than twenty first-class divisions (infantry and cavalry) in the Great Chu Empire are basically in this situation. Guangzhou, Songjiang, Tianjin, Shenyang.

Some are stationed in border areas, such as Central Asia, Siberia, and Southeast Asia.

A few more are stationed in overseas territories, such as India, North America, and Africa.

But in the real sense, there are very few first-class divisions in overseas territories... At present, in Africa, there is only one battalion of first-class divisions stationed in Maputo... well, this battalion is dedicated to the local gold. , serving as a strategic protection force.

And India and West Asia, such a large area, the combined strength of all first-class divisions is only two... Among them, a mixed battalion was assigned to garrison in Maputo, Africa!

On the contrary, there are more first-class divisions in Central Asia and Siberia. There are four first-class cavalry divisions alone. This is mainly because the local cavalry is the main combat force. The troops are all first-class cavalry divisions, and if the second-class cavalry divisions are inferior in mobility, there are too many first-class divisions.

The main difference between the first-class division and the second-class division in the Great Chu Empire is the difference in the number of mules and horses attached to them, the resulting difference in mobility and cost.

The first-class cavalry division usually has heavy cavalry riding three horses alone, and light cavalry riding single horses and two horses. At the same time, it will also be equipped with a large number of carriages, fast-moving cavalry guns, and fast-moving logistics troops. Its overall mobility is very strong...with independent combat , and even siege capabilities.

The army's requirement for the first-class cavalry division is: to be able to quickly attack 150 kilometers alone, and then launch an attack on the enemy's target!
The reason why it is 150 kilometers... That is because the Chu army has discovered in actual combat that when the troops leave the transportation nodes such as ports and railway stations.

The troops rely on their own logistics troops and use horse-drawn carriages to maintain supplies. The supply limit is about 150 kilometers!
This 150 kilometers has to be on flat terrain and there are certain roads.

If the terrain is complex and the traffic is inconvenient, then this distance will be further reduced.

Once the supply line exceeds this distance, the front-line troops' own logistics troops will not be enough, and they can only rely on the rear to organize more professional logistics troops, or simply recruit civilians to transport supplies.

So this is the standard for a 150-kilometer raid distance!

In fact, many seemingly ordinary data about war are summaries drawn from actual combat, not brain-bashing.

This is the case for the first-class cavalry division's raid distance of 150 kilometers.

And the first-class cavalry divisions that undertake this kind of raid mission have nothing to do with the traditional cavalry units. They all go to the battlefield with artillery and a lot of luggage.

Moreover, the first-class cavalry division, in fact, most of the battles are not charging on horseback, but quickly maneuvering to the target, dismounting and fighting on foot... After all, the front is the enemy's city or position, you can't ride a horse and rush up to cut down the city wall no!
Such a first-class cavalry division of the Great Chu Empire, in more accurate military terms, should be: fast mobile troops!
This is also why the first-class cavalry division is so expensive...for the 150-kilometer fast attack, and maintain the ability to fight independently and even attack tough battles, and also maintain a certain supply self-sustainability...too many horses are needed .

However, for the second-class cavalry divisions, there are not so many requirements. The second-class cavalry divisions are basically single-handed and single-horse, and they do not have the ability to fight independently, let alone the ability to run long distances. It is more in line with the definition of modern cavalry units.

But in the vast and sparsely populated Central Asia and Siberia, this second-class cavalry is not very useful. After all, the range of activities is very limited and they do not have the ability to fight independently over long distances.

This is why the independent cavalry units in Central Asia and Siberia are generally the first-class cavalry divisions.

However, this special situation is only limited to Central Asia and Siberia. If it is in the Southeast Asia region, this is not the case.

In fact, in the Nanyang region, the Chu army did not even have independent cavalry units attached, only the divisional cavalry units of the infantry divisions.

After all, the terrain and environment are different, and the needs for arms are also different.

Now, there is no need for any professional independent cavalry units. In this kind of normal security operations, ordinary third-class garrison troops and even militias are enough.

After all, when the Chu army was engaged in normal security operations, they would not engage in long-distance raids, go deep into the hinterland where the aborigines gathered, and engage in any central flowering.

The normal security operations of the Chu army have always been very conservative, that is, gradually moving out from the immigrant settlements...

Expel a place, occupy a place, emigrate a place!
Then repeat the process.

As for the areas far away from immigrant settlements, the Great Chu Empire generally doesn’t care much about them, let alone sending troops into them rashly... unless there is an indigenous regime in the area and a formal large-scale organized army is formed, but at this time It is not the third-class divisions and militia that are often dispatched. Usually, the second-class divisions mobilize the main force to press up and directly put the opponent down.

Naturally, this kind of normal law and order operation cannot be discussed repeatedly in the imperial meeting. After Luo Zhixue casually ordered a few words from the army, he turned the topic to immigration development.

In order to truly turn the huge Nanyang region into the hinterland of the empire, military control is only the beginning, and a large population is the core foundation.

However, the population of the Great Chu Empire in the Nanyang region is actually not large. Even in the most developed Malacca province, the current total population is only a million...

As of the summer of the 35th year of Chengshun, the Great Chu Empire was in the Nanyang region, including Hue Province, Thang Long Province, Siam Province, Malacca Province, Myanmar Province, Luzon Province, Borneo, Banten Province (Java Island, East India Islands), Tongtan Province (Sumatra Island), plus a directly-administered Australia.

Including the above-mentioned regions, the total population is just over 300 million, and the population is mainly concentrated in the two provinces of Malacca and Luzon, and the population of other places is not large.

In such a large area, the total population is only over 300 million, which is obviously not enough.

You must know that this large area in later generations can support a total population of more than 6 million people, which is almost half of the Huaxia region.

According to this ratio, there are currently more than 4 million people in the mainland area of ​​the Great Chu Empire. If the Nanyang region is fully developed, it can carry at least 1 million people.

In this imperial meeting, many topics discussed were actually related to this population.

How to make the local area carry more population of the Great Chu Empire?

The officials of the Ministry of Water Resources first proposed the core solution, that is, to improve the local population carrying capacity and feed more Chu people, the construction of large-scale water conservancy facilities in the Nanyang region is indispensable. .

It's just that, although everyone agrees that water conservancy facilities should be built locally, the officials of the Ministry of Water Resources are too ambitious, and they often talk about water conservancy investment of hundreds of millions of Chu Yuan, and then a vote of cabinet officials is very upset.

You, the person in charge of a weak yamen, where do you have the courage to spend hundreds of millions of Chu Yuan with a single mouth?
The financial budget of the Great Chu Empire is limited. Apart from military expenses and royal family expenses, the funds that the cabinet can use are also limited, and most of them have to be used for various domestic expenditures.

Such as various agricultural subsidies, water conservancy construction, education expenses, some industrial and commercial support, etc.

Finally, there is indispensable, the funds for the administration itself... The rule itself also requires costs. This large number of officials can't let them drink the northwest wind, they all have to get salaries, and they also need office funds.

Calculated in this way, there is enough money to be spent in the country, but there is not much money that can be used for the special funds for the development of Nanyang.

Some people also said that national bonds can be issued for special funds, but they were refuted by others.

It is said that there are too many government-run bonds issued by the empire under various names, such as railway bonds, various construction bonds... Although these bonds have different names, they are actually national bonds as a whole.

You can't ignore the railway bonds issued by the Railway Corporation because they are corporate bonds in name... Everyone in the world knows that the Railway Corporation is just a company name... The supervisor of the Railway Corporation has never been The second grade... is comparable to the grade of a governor of a province.

When financial institutions and ordinary people buy railway bonds, what they trust is not the railway company itself, but the imperial government behind the railway company!
Enough of these various government-run bonds have been issued, and if additional bonds are issued, it will cause damage to the financial health of the empire.

In the end, we discussed and discussed... A lot of plans were decided, but the funds needed for the various plans were not available.

Luo Zhixue was mentally prepared for this.

With the economic background of the empire, in addition to maintaining the rapid development and construction of all aspects of the country, it has reached its limit to support the development of the Northeast.

If large-scale development is carried out in the Nanyang region, the economic background of the empire will not be able to bear it.

So at the end of the discussion, yes, there is no money... let's give some policies to various places in Nanyang.

What policy?
Other ordinary policies are not effective, and some policies that are too excessive are not realistic. After much deliberation, we can only give some local tax relief policies.

Especially to attract immigrants and increase agricultural taxes for the local population.

After careful deliberation, it was decided that the newly developed areas in the Nanyang region, that is, the places where there were no immigrant settlements before, will be given a five-year agricultural tax exemption policy and a three-year agricultural tax reduction policy.

At the same time, some local agriculture-related industries will be given preferential tax breaks.

In short, it is impossible for all parts of Nanyang to take money from the pockets of the imperial capital... The only thing the imperial Jinling can do is to collect less taxes locally within a certain period of time.

But even so, it is of great strategic significance for the development of all parts of Nanyang!
Especially in this series of Nanyang support policies, many businessmen have keenly discovered that some industries in some areas of Nanyang can even operate tax-free for many years.

For example, Bangkok, Siam has a series of tax incentives for the rubber processing industry. From the national, provincial, and local prefectural and county levels, all tax reductions and exemptions at all levels are calculated. The final tax is close to zero. Under some specific conditions, you can even get local subsidies in turn...

And the duration of tax incentives is a full five years.

After this situation was discovered by those rubber companies, only in August 35th of Chengshun, that is, in the first month of the implementation of a series of preferential policies, more than 50 rubber factories were established in the Bangkok area... Almost all large-scale rubber companies have chosen to set up new factories here.

This made several other cities that also have a rubber industry layout very unhappy. They thought that Bangkok had gone too far and sued Jinling.

It has to be said that this was not expected by the Jinling side... However, this is the result that the Siam governor authorities expected and tried their best to achieve!

People just want to support the rubber processing industry if the rubber processing industry does not earn taxes, or even subsidize taxes, and then indirectly drive the development of the rubber planting industry and other related industries.

You laugh at Zhang Yulong, the governor of Siam, for being stupid, it’s fine if you don’t collect taxes, and you pay for it... But Zhang Yulong, the governor of Siam, laughs at you for being naive!
It's a pity that Jinling's attention was drawn to this incident not long after it came out, and the subsidy policy for the rubber processing industry in Bangkok was stopped shortly after... The main reason was that other places would follow suit and make upside down. A vicious competition for money.

However, for the dozens of rubber processing companies that have settled in Bangkok, their preferential policies have already been documented... There is no way to change it... The imperial officials still have to face it. It is impossible to say that a preferential policy is given today and canceled tomorrow .

This has also led to dozens of rubber companies in Bangkok having tax breaks and even subsidy policies for up to five years.

However, almost all large-scale rubber processing enterprises nationwide are included, and there is no problem of unfair competition among enterprises, so it is acquiesced.

This special situation has greatly strengthened the development of the local rubber processing industry in Bangkok!

(End of this chapter)