I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 361 Liaodong and Finance

"This time it cannot be limited to North Korea. Liaodong must also be cautious and pay close attention to the movements of the rebels. They must not let them appear in North Korea without knowing anything."

Since the Puhe War, Zhu Youxiao has paid more and more attention to the importance of intelligence work.

That time, it was because of the Jin Yiwei spies lurking in Jianlu that the imperial court predicted Jianlu's plan to attack Inner Khalkha in advance, and finally was able to make calm arrangements and achieve a great victory at Puhe.

So now Zhu Youxiao, even the Military Aircraft Department and the cabinet attach great importance to the role of the Jinyiwei secret agent.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Now the Jin Yiwei has spies around Yue Tuo. Even the newly formed Black Flag Army (Han Army) that Jianlu asked Li Yongfang to form has many people who want to join the Ming Dynasty. So now most of the people inside Jianlu We will all know the actions."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yangxing immediately bowed and reported. This was a great achievement of his. He had invested nearly half a year in it, and now that it finally had an effect, he naturally felt honored.

When Zhu Youxiao, who was still looking into the distance, heard this, he turned to look at Luo Yangxing and nodded.

"This puts me at ease. The old slave willfully plundered the Liao people in April and May for food rations. It is tantamount to drinking poison to quench his thirst and let the people of Liaodong know his wolf ambition. In the future, the emotional card to win over the Liao people will not be played, and it is certain It will make the Liao people inside it turn against each other, I didn’t expect retribution to come so quickly.”

The subordinate Shen Guan heard this and believed it. With the victory of Liaodong over Jianlu, more and more Liao people are fleeing from Jianlu to Ming Dynasty. The reason is that they found that they can't survive there either. On the contrary, life in Liaodong is actually easier.

Thinking of this, Shen Guan glanced at Sun Chengzong and stepped forward to give him his hand.

"Your Majesty, since North Korea is ready to take action, can Liaodong also take action? Last month, Wang Huazhen, the governor of Guangning, wrote in the inscription that he had sent his commander-in-chief Zu Tianshou to lead [-] troops to support Liaodong. I believe he has arrived in Liaoyang now. .

Now the soldiers and horses of Liaodong are gathering together. In the past, they have repeatedly defeated Jianlu and their morale is strong. If they can gather the army to go north to capture Tieling and Fushun, they can comprehensively contain Jianlu and make them unable to attack westward. "

Zhu Youxiao was silent when he heard this. Two consecutive victories this year gave many ministers the illusion that they could attack Jianlu on a large scale and reverse the decline in one fell swoop.

But whether it is really possible to fight now, to be honest, Zhu Youxiao is not very sure. Although he also wants to finish the battle, he really does not dare to take this risk, because if he is not careful and loses, all his efforts in Liaodong will be in vain. , it will be time-consuming and labor-intensive to restore to this situation.

And whether he can be beaten in the Liaodong War now has no say, it still depends on the views of the parties involved.

"I still think this matter needs to be discussed in the long term. It is not decided by us here. We also need to ask Xiong Tingbi and Yang Lian for their opinions. Last time, in order to consolidate the defense lines of Yilushi, Puhe, Shenyang and Fengjibao, he specifically asked Wang Huazhen to send troops to support .

If we attack rashly now and encounter a huge defeat, all previous achievements will be wasted.Moreover, the northern part of Inner Khalkha is now occupied by the Jianqi. Although the Wengjirat tribe moved south to Liaohetao, their strength has not been fully restored. They continue to ask the court for money and food, spending a lot of money.

As a result, Puhesuo and western Shenyang are still harassed from time to time by Horqin and Bahrain tribesmen who have close encounters with Jianlu. If we attack now, we may easily be attacked from both sides. "

When the emperor said this, Shen Guan wanted to explain, but Zhu Youxiao waved his hand to tell him to stop.
"Shen Aiqing, don't say any more about this kind of thing. Let's ask Xiong Tingbi for his opinion first. He knows the best about the Liaodong war. When he says we can fight, we will make plans. What do you think, Mr. British, Sun Aiqing?"

Sun Chengzong had already guessed that the emperor would ask such a question. Shen Guan had asked for this opinion before, and he was very opposed to it. Unexpectedly, Shen Guan thought that the emperor would support him and made suggestions on the spot. It was really a bit of a humiliation for himself.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the war in Liaodong cannot be started now for three reasons."

When Zhu Youxiao heard what Sun Chengzong said, he immediately became interested and waved his hand for Sun Chengzong to continue.

"A war in the southwest is about to start. The Zhenwu Army goes south and the army gathers in Guizhou. To pacify the Shuixi'an clan is like an arrow on the string. Moreover, the Shuixi'an clan has been a chieftain in Guizhou for thousands of years. It is deeply rooted. If you are not careful, it will cause a great chaos among the southwestern chieftains. Therefore, the imperial court can only win but not lose.

And now the imperial court wants to calm North Korea. If it launches troops in Liaodong again and uses troops on three sides, I think it is extremely inappropriate. This is not the way to use troops. This is one of them. "

When Zhu Youxiao said this, he nodded repeatedly. It was indeed true. With troops deployed on three sides, the energy of the imperial court would inevitably be restrained. It was difficult to guarantee victory, so it was better to do it one by one.

"Secondly, the financial resources are insufficient. According to the planning between the minister and Wang Yingjiao, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, since Wang Yingjiao transferred the financial and taxation rights of the remaining five bureaus and nine ministers to the Ministry of Hunan, the financial and taxation under the control of the Ministry of Hubu is far more than before.

This year, excluding Liao's salary expenditure and the nine-border military salary, the Ministry of Revenue has recorded approximately 300 million taels this year, which also includes the collection of local debts of 3307 million taels and the five departments' 300 million taels.

The remaining 6603 million taels is the real income, which is only 200 million taels more than last year. This is also the income after the special increase in miscellaneous taxes last year and the return of half of the internal funds to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

But even this much is only paper income. The income of the Five Departments goes to the Household Department. Although it seems that the Household Department has more money, the Household Department is also responsible for the expenses of the Five Departments, and the expenses remain the same as before.

The Ministry of Household Affairs can only really move more than 660 million taels, plus last year there was still 200 million taels left over.

However, since the beginning of the year, there has been war in the southwest. His Majesty has classified the finance and taxation of the five southwest provinces as military supplies, causing the Ministry of Household Affairs to lose 100 million taels of fiscal and tax revenue, and allocated another 50 taels from the Ministry of Household Affairs as military supplies.Later, Shandong suppressed the rebellion and appeased the people, and the Ministry of Household Affairs allocated 50 taels. Later, the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop was built, with a two-phase plan of 40 taels, and now 30 taels have been spent.

Subsequently, nearly 20 taels were spent on the construction of the Military Academy, the Jingshi Tongwen Library, and the Ming Dynasty Library. In addition, the court provided relief for more than 50 taels during the drought in the Huaihe River. Shandong immigrants to Liaodong requested an allocation of 30 taels, and Tianjin and Denglai The new navy applied for another [-] taels, all of which were expenses. In addition, North Korea was about to use troops, and all the training and military salaries in the Beijing camp were expenses.

If war breaks out again, I really can’t imagine that the imperial court will run out of money again. "

Sure enough, the most reasonable thing to do is to settle accounts. Zhu Youxiao was speechless after being calculated like this by Sun Chengzong.Sun Chengzong just said that he was calculating at the same time. According to this idea, the revenue of the Ministry of Household Affairs is now only 450 million taels.

This seems like a lot, but it’s really not much.

Money is needed to use troops in the southwest, money is needed to use troops in North Korea, and money is needed to appease the Jishit troops. There are still four armies in the Beijing camp undergoing training, among which weapons, equipment, and men need money even more.In addition to the salary of the clan and the officials in the capital, in case of disaster relief in various places, a new navy will be built in Fujian, which is a bottomless pit.

This doesn't require 450 million, even if it comes with 1000 million, it won't stop.

He couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this.

"Oh, Master Sun is right. It's only August and we're spending so much. How can we sustain it? If the war in Liaodong breaks out again, it will be another round of expenses. Let's take our time."

Shen Guan just listened to Sun Chengzong's calculations and suddenly felt that he was exaggerating.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Sun Ge is a bit alarmist, and the account cannot be settled like this.

The previous salt tax reform required salt merchants to pay a deposit before they could sell salt.Now Bi Ziyan is carrying out salt tax reform in full swing in Yangzhou. I heard that since the imperial court split the quotas of 45 salt merchants into 75, wealthy merchants from all over the world have gathered in Yangzhou to prepare to compete for shares.

According to the previous conversion, the 75 deposits can amount to 1000 million taels of deposit, which is enough for the court to spend for one year.

In addition, due to the new increase in tariffs, they have not been included in this year's budget of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If the implementation goes smoothly this year, the revenue will be nearly 100 million taels, and if the court's expenses are fully sufficient. "

When Sun Chengzong heard this, he was immediately excited and said to Shen Guan:

"Mr. Shen Ge, the salt tax auction has just begun. And from the time of bidding to the payment of the amount, it will have to be at least October before it can be escorted to the capital. This is especially true for tariffs. It will have to wait until at least November before it can be escorted to the Ministry of Household Affairs. If it is advanced in advance I’m afraid it’s extremely inappropriate.”

"Why not? The imperial court now has enough troops. If Liaodong takes the initiative to send troops, they can contain the Jianlu, and they will not dare to interfere in North Korea."

Seeing this, Shen Guan was not to be outdone and started to retaliate. When Zhu Youxiao saw the two of them arguing, he shook his head helplessly.

"Okay, stop arguing, what's wrong with this?"

Seeing the emperor scolding him, the two of them quickly bowed their heads and apologized.

"I have lost my composure. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao was too lazy to talk about them, sighed slightly, and then sat back on the throne again and looked at the two of them.

"As the saying goes, food and grass go first before the soldiers and horses are moved. This money and food is the most important thing for marching and fighting. I think Sun Aiqing is right. Although the salt tax and customs revenue are not included in the calculation, the current expenditure of the imperial court is actually quite high. Yes, there will be more places to spend money later.

Besides, even if Liaodong does not move troops now, as long as the troops are suppressed on the line from Yilu to Puhe, Jianlu will use rat weapons and dare not act rashly.If it is done, it will not only cost a lot, but may also be risky, so it is better to think about it in the long term. "

Shen Guan also sighed secretly when he heard this. Now that the emperor has spoken, this is all he can do now.

"The minister obeys the order."

Zhu Youxiao nodded when he heard this. He should do things one by one and eat the food one bite at a time.But just now Sun Chengzong said there were three reasons, and now he only said two reasons.

He just didn't know what the last reason was, and he was very curious.

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(End of this chapter)