I am the king of the dead

The means they use to maintain military discipline are often forced to use the method of massacring the city to maintain it.

Because the purpose of their gathering is to make a fortune and plunder, so their southward movement is always accompanied by bursts of massacres.

Yang Hong nodded, and said helplessly: "Their teenagers really need to join the war. I have never heard that the Oirats need to pay the soldiers monthly salt and silver to let them fight."

"Of course, except for the Qixue army. Their Qiexue army is extremely strong, and the monthly payment is one tael or five dollars. They have expeditions tens of thousands of miles away without breaking up."

All the ministers looked at His Majesty dully, why did they mention the Oirats and Tatars again?

Is this good special meeting on financial affairs going to be changed into a military meeting?

It was the first time that Zhu Qiyu knew that the prairie troops would also pay, and it was not low. After a year of silver conversion, there were actually about 20 taels, of course the amount was very small.

He suddenly asked, "It's enough for the Oirats to get a soldier, as long as the tribe has a child, but what about us? Do you know how much it costs for a sergeant in the Beijing camp?"

Wang Hu, the ambassador of the Du Branch, and Lin Xiu, the eunuch of the internal funds, each took out a small abacus and began to settle accounts.

Wu Jing stared at this scene dumbfounded, is this directly settled in front of His Majesty?

Wang Hu quickly stood on the court's side, finished the calculation, and said with a foul breath, "It takes at least 20 million taels of silver to form a standing army of 120 people. Calculating, and maintaining the Daming Beijing Camp, every sergeant is converted into silver every year, which is about 15 taels of silver."

"Converted according to the price of rice in the capital, 600 million shi of grain is needed to maintain the standing stock of the Beijing camp. However, the taxes paid by Daming to Beijing during the Xuande and Zhengtong years were only about 100 million shi."

Lin Xiu scratched her head and said, "The inner money was just for rewards, and more than three million taels of silver were tossed out."

"It's a little bit better now. One silver coin costs seven cents per cent, but it still needs more than one million silver coins every year."

"About 200 million stones are needed to make grain."

Zhu Qiyu said with a smile on his face: "The population of the Ming Dynasty has increased from more than 300 million in the Hongwu period to more than 800 million now, and the maintenance cost of the Beijing camp has increased from [-] million shi per year in the Yongle period to more than [-] million shi per year. , which is an inevitable trend of social development.”

"However, the imperial court's taxation was even lower than that of the Hongwu period."

"At that time, the Oirats were dormant, the Tatars were retreating, and the Uliangha people were begging for mercy. Anyone who looked at it would think that the high cost of the Beijing camp was too much."

"That's why I said that it was only normal at that time."

Prospering culture and martial arts is a big topic, and it will be discussed at every salt and iron meeting.

Yang Hong is thinking about the problem from the perspective of the army; it is Zhu Qiyu who is thinking about this problem from the perspective of the monarch or the state's expenditure.

The Ming Dynasty was really too poor.

In fact, at the beginning of the Kingdom, the cost of obtaining sergeants was relatively low. Whether it was the military guards in the Hongwu period, the Beiya army in the Yongle period, or the Beijing camp later, it was not expensive. With development, this cost becomes even higher.

This has been the case in all dynasties.

When the country was founded, it could gobble up the world and open up borders, but as time passed, it could no longer support it.

There are many factors in this, and financial affairs cannot support it, which is only one aspect of it.

Zhu Qiyu added another sentence: "Of course, everything in the world is not a complete matter of financial affairs. For example, Yu Shaobao mobilized the military preparation army and the Japanese army to enter Beijing, and more than [-] troops entered Beijing. How much did it cost? The ear of the paper decree."

The officials were silent for a long time, His Majesty always stood at a very high angle when thinking about the problem, the impact of this kind of perspective on the officials was extremely captivating, they had never thought about the reason for this.

At that time, it was only commonplace, but how many government orders that are extremely stupid in the eyes of later generations have been exhausted, and what are the reasons behind them?

"Your Majesty is wise." Hu Yan bowed his head and said.

He sighed again and again, because he was a witness, he was never able to think about the problem from the perspective of a bystander, but fell into a dead end.

It was right then, why is it wrong now?

He often fell into self-doubt and self-denial.

Just as he said that day that he was honest and immoral, today he firmly supports it and the day after tomorrow he firmly opposes it.

Hu's words are sincere.

"Your Majesty..."

Zhu Qiyu interrupted the echoes of the ministers, and said with a smile: "From the perspective of purely financial affairs, training a large number of volunteers can effectively reduce the cost of acquiring sergeants for the Ming army. In fact, it is very economical."

"A voluntary regiment trainer joins the Beijing camp. After joining the army, his training cost is far less than that of a commoner after joining the army. So everyone asks whether he wants to train a voluntary regiment, and he still needs it."

"It is also a helpless move to reduce the court's expenditure by allowing the families of the sergeants in the Beijing camp to participate in the Farm Law and use the land to pay the remuneration of the sergeants."

"Everyone asks whether it is necessary to set up a farm law in the Hetao area. It is also necessary. We can quickly obtain a large number of soldiers to resist the Wara people's coveting of the Hetao area."

Jin Lian's eyes lit up. Facts have proved how important it is to have a Beijing camp that can win battles, but how expensive it is to maintain a Beijing camp that can win battles.

The inevitability of the existence of the Beijing Camp puts a very real question in front of everyone, where does such a large amount of expenditure come from?

How to maintain the training of the Volunteer Group at the lowest cost has become a headache for the Ministry of Finance.

Jin Lian, Minister of the Household Department, shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Your Majesty who can save money is Shengming's!

Zhu Qiyu looked at the appearance of the officials and said with a smile: "About the management of the Hetao area, do you have any questions?"

"I intend to build it into the south of the Yangtze River instead of turning it into a purgatory on earth. I am not his family. They can oppress the people unscrupulously, but I cannot."

"I am the emperor of Ming Dynasty, and they are the subjects of Ming Dynasty."

"Even from the perspective of the most philistine financial affairs, labor is the only criterion for measuring value, and the people responsible for labor are the most precious wealth."

"How much we invest now, in the future, they will repay Daming a hundred times, a thousand times."

Shi Pu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, said very puzzled: "Your Majesty, Hetao lacks iron. If this is a water conservancy project, the agricultural tools and tools needed are not a small amount. Are they all transported from the capital?"

Fortressing the south of the Yangtze River cannot be built with empty slogans, it needs steel to support it!

Not just a will of steel, but real steel.

There is no steel, no iron, no farm implements, no tools, that is nothing.

Zhu Qiyu nodded in satisfaction, the Ministry of Industry finally showed its subjective initiative.

He smiled and said: "Kuai Xiang, the general manager of the Shijing Factory, will have to work hard again. When the East Surrendered City is conquered, he will go to Shengzhou (now Ordos) to build a new coal and iron factory. Just call it Changsheng Factory." .”

"Shengzhou Changsheng Factory."

"The reason why the Wara people want to occupy the Hetao is not only that they have a large number of pastures in the Hetao that need to be operated, they also need a large number of coal fields in Shengzhou for them to use for winter heating. Shengzhou has their needs open pit."

"The Artisan Academy of Shijing Factory is responsible for all support to Changsheng Factory, whether it is craftsmen or tools, it must provide part."

"Any questions?"

Shi Pu shook his head. For the Ministry of Industry, their good days suddenly came.

In the past, as the Ministry of Industry at the end of the Six Ministries, there were very few things that could be done. Although it was expensive as the Six Ministries, even such things as supervising the royal tombs were done by relatives like Zhao Hui and Sun Zhong.

Left and right are just making money, who is making money, not making money?

But now that they have plans, they only need to follow the plans of the provinces, and they will have a lot to do. Shijing Factory is just a small test.

In this Hetao development, the Ministry of Industry will undertake most of the engineering construction tasks, such as the construction of official roads and post roads, such as water conservancy projects in the Hetao area, such as coal mining in Shengzhou, and farm tools and tools in the Hetao area. development applications.

All of these require the deep participation of the Ministry of Industry, and the days of running away with buckets seem to be gone forever.

Be busy, be busy, busy means power.

Zhu Qiyu looked around, and everyone was quite concerned about the development of Hetao. This is a good thing, as long as some problems are solved.

Any territory that the Ming army opened up in the future can be used as a model to refer to, and finally complete the complete rule of these territories.

To develop Hetao, the official roads and post roads were first established, and then prefectures, counties and townships were established, the people were organized as households, and water conservancy was built.Protect people's livelihood.

This set is an extremely complete development process, which is aimed at developing the Hetao into a place close to the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the group of officials, at least on the matter of developing Hetao, everyone reached a unified consensus and twisted into a rope.

Zhu Qiyu was very relieved that he did not see any courtiers speaking for the business gang represented by the Qu family. This was a great improvement.

It's not in vain. In the past two years since Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, he has worked tirelessly in fishing, making nests, and repairing fish ponds. At least their buttocks are now afraid to sit on the side of meat eaters.

Because the imperial court is gradually becoming a big meat eater.

In nature, whoever can hunt food more effectively can become a carnivore, which determines its status in nature.

It was the same in the imperial court and in Ming Dynasty, whoever could eat more would have more power.

The Ming Dynasty was always an official-based world. No matter how rich the family wealth of the merchants was, their children had to take part in the imperial examinations, gain fame, and eventually become officials.

Jin Lian took a deep breath and asked, "Your Majesty, the city of Xishou surrendered, which is the new Jinglu Mansion to be built by His Majesty, will set up tax supervisors and cash gates, and tax supervisors will also be set up in the markets of the three mansions. How much will the Jinglu Mansion survive?"

Jin Lian mentioned a crucial issue, the division of interests.

Lin Xiu immediately said: "Jin Shangshu, didn't you say that? The accounts are divided into five and five, and the internal funds are divided into half and half. Why does this raise this question again?"

This aspect of profit has already been discussed before, why does Jin Lian bring it up again now?

Wang Hu immediately said, "We need to save some of that space, what about this part?"

Lin Xiu sneered and said: "That's the court's business, how much is the internal money, how much is it!"

Zhu Qiyu smiled and said nothing, not answering this question.

Who is the biggest meat eater in Ming Dynasty?

It is he who is the emperor, so things like money bags will naturally be locked up.

Hu Wei coughed and signaled Jin Lian that enough is enough, and how to communicate with the local government about the distribution of benefits is indeed a matter for the court, and the idea cannot be put into His Majesty's pocketbook.

The salt and iron conference is over, and the issue of currency circulation that Zhu Qiyu wants to talk about has still not been mentioned...

The salt and iron meeting this time is more about discussing the development of the Hetao area.

In fact, Zhu Qiyu did not talk about one thing here, and that is how to do the work of the common people.

This is a big subject, and Qian is responsible for it.

No matter how you change the angle, Jining was indeed burned, it was indeed a huge mess.

Xing'an took a memorial, whispered to Xiao Huangmen a few times, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, the military department of the Xuanfu has sent a memorial to Shizhong and Gao Yuan, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu. The tribute market in the Xuanfu is about to open. .”

Chapter 274 Meat eaters are despicable, unable to seek far

Zhu Chun did not come from a major. During the 14 years he came to Xuanfu, he mostly made a living as a painter, but he was not useless, eating the salary of the imperial court and doing nothing.

He knows enough about Xuanfu and about Mashi.

But last time he caught a spy and got a reward card, he took over the job of building Xuanfu Gongshi.

Is this job difficult?In fact, it is not difficult, because the establishment of the Tribute City by the Great Emperor is really what everyone expects.

"It has been recently heard that northern captives brought horses into the border private market for tribute, and those who won the market all returned to powerful families. Because of the huge profits, merchants and people would flock to them. Merchants from far and near mostly traded with captives with iron goods. Villagers Residents of the city also took the lead in committing crimes.”

The people of Xuanfu want Gongshi, the influential family of Xuanfu Haoyou wants Gongshi, the Tatars want Gongshi, almost everyone wants Gongshi.

Private markets and private markets were already an extremely common phenomenon before the establishment of Xuanfu Gongshi, and in the name of mutual markets, horse bandits who wantonly looted in Kyushu outside the mountains were no longer rare.

For this kind of chaos, he wrote to the imperial court several times, but he never responded. Firstly, his memorials were not taken seriously, and secondly, Daming was so powerful that it was a bit treacherous, so it was not worth mentioning.

Since the change of Tumubao, his memorials have received great attention, and the speed of advancement is extremely fast.

The Great Emperor sent 30 pieces of horse price silver as capital for the first transaction in Gong City, requiring no less than [-] usable war horses.

The Xuanfu immediately invested about [-] civilian workers in Jiajiaying, Andingmen, and began to build the siege of Gongshi. Buildings such as Zhenshuo Building and Qingyuan Building were successively built to manage the two mutual markets.

The geographical location of Jiajiaying is very special. It is a basin surrounded by mountains, but it is well connected in all directions. At first, Agadorji was sent to attack Jiajiaying, hoping to contain the main force of Xuanfu and attack Wanquan City. Take cover.

It is a pity that Agadorji played on the fine traditions of the Tatars and fled.

At this time, due to the construction of the Jiajiaying, a small fort with a circumference of ten miles was built. Although it was a mutual market, it had an extremely strong military fort style, such as a horse racing track and a three-story urn city.

In the fifth year of Zhengtong, Xuanhua City began to be covered with bricks, and Xuanfu has since become a brick city. This time, the Jiajiaying Gongshi was built at a cost of less than 3 silver dollars.

Daming silver coins are much more expensive than those in the capital, and one piece can be worth three dollars. People in the prairie are quite fond of this kind of silver coin.

Of course, the city is mainly dominated by Gongshi.

Tatars and Wuliangha people could drive their livestock to Xuanfugong City to obtain silver coins from the Ming Dynasty, and then exchange the silver coins for iron pots, salt and other things necessary for life.

To a certain extent, Zhu Chun thinks that the silver coins of Daming are more like a kind of exquisitely crafted Yanyin that is not easy to forge. , Exchange Daming silver coins to the mainland.

Isn't this a reprint of Shiobiki?

But he soon realized that he was very wrong.

The currency of general equivalents is completely different from Yanyin, which is closely related to grain and grass in border towns and Huainan salt.

First of all, Daming prepared salt, tea, iron pots, farm tools, horse iron and other things in exchange, all of which were unsalable.

The Taiji and slave chieftains of the Tatars took away Daming's silver coins and left behind their livestock, but did not take away the goods, supplies, and daily necessities prepared by Daming.