open sea

Chapter 1143 Ambition
Chen Mu mentioned education at the beginning of his letter.

But the statement is extremely practical. Education is neither for the old-fashioned enlightenment of the people as scholars say, nor for the very new-style expectation of equality for all beings.

It is to tell the emperor bluntly that the Ming Empire needs more people with knowledge. There are many people with knowledge in the world, and there will be more and more people with knowledge, but it is not enough, it is far from enough.

It is not enough for these people to be officials, military generals, or businessmen, and they cannot meet the current needs.

Chen Mu cited two examples. The first is the steel production of Daming, which was pushed forward by steam locomotives and railroad tracks. He told the emperor why he thought it was not enough in a very simple and easy-to-understand manner. The supply and demand relationship has changed.

The second example he brought up was the Beiyang Banner Army, the most powerful soldier in the world that the emperor was thinking of.

There is no doubt about the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Banner Army. This is at the cost of the best training method of this era, a lot of cost, and a long time. Although it is the best, it is not scientific.

The most scientific method of military training is to gradually balance the game between cost and benefit. In this era, how can military training take a year and a half?There is a tradition of military training in the Greater China region, but this does not mean that the whole world is like this. It is just that Chen Mu didn't know it when he sent troops. He thought that all the people in the world trained soldiers.

But in fact, Portugal does not train troops, England does not train troops, and the Netherlands does not train troops. Most countries in the world do not train troops. They do not even have a standing army. What kind of soldiers do they train?Can knights count as soldiers?

Spain and France are training troops. The recruits of Philip II will receive less than three months of training. The Gendarmerie of the Valois royal family in France is a force composed entirely of knights. Their concept is similar to that of the Mamluk and Ottoman Guards. Almost, it can be equated to military training.

The other troops grew up in the flames of war. They were called up again and again, went into battle, and disbanded. In the process of being called up, going into battle, and disbanded again, they formed troops with a little military quality, and the best of them became mercenaries, specializing in killing.

The military service of the Beiyang Banner Army is five years, and the training time will take one and a half years, which means that it only has three and a half years of use time.

What spends the most of their training time?It is to learn knowledge, including military regulations, weapon parameters, tactical strategy, cartography technology, hydrology and geography, etc. They almost learn everything they need to learn in the martial arts hall, but it is just superficial.

Involving literacy, mathematics, geography, physics, medicine and even a little bit of chemistry, the flag soldiers can never hear the explosion of gunpowder and think that the gods have come to the world.

So they need a year and a half to learn a lot of knowledge in training.

The emperor looked at the letter, lit the lamps and sketched in the Tsinghua Garden Palace at night, and he was calculating the accounts of the account department, because Chen Mu said that he estimated that overseas income has accounted for one-third or more of the imperial court's annual income, and Daming got enough money from overseas. The reason for the benefit is that when Da Ming got on this warship, it would be very difficult to get off.

Continuous investment and continuous output, once the investment stops, the blow of the disintegration of overseas interests will make Daming unable to bear it internally.

In this regard, Lord Wanli inherited the genes from his grandfather. Of course, he is not as good as the ascended Daojun Emperor who also serves as the Minister of the Household Department, but he might pretend to have more data in his brain than the Minister of the Household Department.

He clearly remembered that this year's annual revenue of the imperial court was 700 million taels of silver, of which 400 million taels of silver for sea trade tariffs and Beijing transport of the Three Armed Forces were strange.

Great changes.

According to this data, it seems that Daming's overseas interests do not account for one-third, but in fact it has already accounted for, or even half.

It is not because of the internal circulation of these properties in the middle school, but because of Chen Mu's suggestion to Zhang Juzheng and Household Minister Wang Guoguang before he left Beijing-the central bank.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the income was very high. The yearly income was 3000 million taels, but only 300 million taels were recorded in the household department, and the expenditure was only 500 million taels, because there was no intermediate organization.

Normally, a certain county’s income is retained for its own use, and the remainder is turned over to a certain government; a certain government’s income is retained for its own use, and the remainder is turned over to the province; a certain province’s income is retained for its own use, and the remainder is sent to the household department; the household department enters the account for filing, and then arranges Imperial government expenditures: allocations for disaster relief in land A, water control in land B, wars outside the Great Wall, border military funds, etc.

not like this.

It is a county with an income of 5000 taels. First, the expenses in the county, such as official salaries, reception expenses, county post stations, courier shops, food, etc., are reserved and normal.

Then, the apportionment of the water control apportionment of a certain township to the county is the result of this year's examination, and the yamen servants are sent directly to the yamen of the Caoyun River; , sent government servants directly to the guards; clan salaries apportioned, or sent directly to the palace; battalion soldiers apportioned, sent directly to the camp;
More than half of them were killed at once, and the rest were sent not only to the Ministry of Households, but also to the Ministry of War, Shipping Depot, Internal Warehouse, Taipu Temple, Dali Temple, Ministry of Industry... all of them were sent to him. In this certain county, he sent them all.

In the end, the Ministry of Households entered the account of a certain county's transportation tax, 200 taels.

It’s okay to do this in peacetime, but it’s nothing more than a lot of loss and less revenue, but the relative central expenditure is also small; but in times of war, when the roads are not smooth, can the court still collect money?If it cannot be collected, no one can transport it in, and if a chain is dropped, the car will not be able to pedal.

Now that there is a bank as a transshipment agency, no one needs to go to the county magistrate to apportion blindly. All the money is sent to the provincial household bank. This bank does not open the door to the common people. All were sent by telegram to the household department of the capital for reporting, and the household department collected them and then sent them to the cabinet.

In the end, the Ministry of Accounts quickly sent back the approved slips, so that the bank could allocate the funds, and the rest of the money was sent to the capital in two trips.

As a result, taxes have increased significantly, but expenditures have also increased. In fact, except for shipping, the money remains unchanged.

But this is definitely less than before. In the past, when the localities communicated with each other, the desired silver was apportioned. Now there is no note from the cabinet, no one can approve the money, and the local palaces dare not ask for money.

Since the clans of San Francisco in Shanxi were uprooted and sent to India by Emperor Wanli, the clans all over the world have stopped, trembling and panicking all day long.

Except for the founder Taizu and Chengzu, even Wuzong who went to the battlefield in person may not be as powerful as Wanli.

What Chen Mu meant was that the emperor knew very well that the imperial court needed more excellent soldiers with lower costs, and completing basic studies before enlisting in the army was the best way to become an excellent soldier.

In the letter, Chen Mu made suggestions to the emperor on the basic education of the Ming Empire: "After the first batch of Beiyang banner troops retire, there should be two to three thousand banner troops who will not continue their military service and will return to the country to be resettled. Proficient in reading and writing thousands of characters, familiar with the military physical training process, understand basic mathematics, some principles of things and mechanical principles, and have sufficient understanding of newly discovered high-yielding crops."

"These retired veterans have seen the world overseas, and more importantly, they have sweated and shed blood for the empire. They are extremely loyal to His Majesty and have a very high patriotic spirit. In Chen's eyes, they are the best elementary school teachers."

"Give them at least one child student to set up an elementary school in the township. There should be [-] to [-] such elementary schools in Ming Dynasty. Every year, there are [-] to [-] children who are over five years old and run wild under the farm trees. Bare-bottomed children go to school to receive a five-year education, and when the primary education is over, they can help the family in farming or continue their studies without delaying farming."

"Primary schools are expanding at a rate of more than 30 per year, and eventually the annual enrollment of children will reach 50 to [-]."

"After receiving such a preliminary education, they have a preliminary understanding of the world, have a good understanding ability and physical fitness, and can enter various professional universities in the private sector to study or continue to study essays. Those who learn essays can master it more easily than others."

"A soldier can quickly understand military orders, quickly learn how to use various weapons within one month, be able to accept commands, understand logistics planning, understand maps, and know how to send messages."

"While workers enter the production line of any factory, they can become familiar with the work process, operate and maintain the machine skillfully, and produce suitable equipment within one month."

"Your Majesty does not need to find a way out for the children of high-ranking officials and nobles, landlords and tyrants. They have too many ways out; let the most ordinary people in the world, even the descendants of people who are not even ordinary people, have the opportunity to change their destiny. They are the cornerstone of the empire for generations. When there is a chance to enter the hall."

(End of this chapter)