Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Yes, Lord Marquis, before the meeting you said you wanted to be frugal with money." Cai Guoyong and Fan Fucui ended their invisibility and couldn't help but speak.

The salary reductions for royal family members and noble relatives were not enough to offset the salary increase for officials. Now so many soldiers will be recruited. These two expenses alone will not be less than 20 million taels this year.

There are shipyards, various workshops, naval ports, shipping bureaus and so on. It would be impossible to manage them without several million taels.

"We should save where necessary and spend where necessary, but we cannot save this money. Our Ming Dynasty must pay attention to ships and firearms. That is the future development direction!" Zhang Shikang said without any compromise.

The Ming Dynasty's firearms and ships have fallen behind those of the Europeans, and this cannot be delayed any further.

Other aspects can be resolved through communication, but when it comes to technological innovation, there is no room for negotiation.

"Shikang, this is what you told me a long time ago, the scientific research and military industry?" said Emperor Chongzhen.

A long time ago, Zhang Shikang told him about this idea, saying that he wanted to unite the world's outstanding craftsmen to build a special base for research and development and improvement.

At that time, Emperor Chongzhen did not quite understand. Whether it was the Ming Dynasty, or the Song Dynasty and Tang Dynasty before that, they had always been like this, and there had never been any institution that specialized in research and development.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this aspect cannot be delayed. Unless Your Majesty lets me go, this must be done. You will understand it later.

The reason why I dare to say that I can intimidate the local areas with 300,000 guards is that I rely on this General Manufacturing Bureau.

The new weapons and firearms developed will be used first by the Guards.

Your Majesty, do you remember what I said before? Firearms are the future of Ming Dynasty and the future of the whole world. " Zhang Shikang insisted again.

The Imperial Guards will serve as the Ming Dynasty's trump card. Not only will their training frequency be the highest, but the firearms they use will also be the newest and most powerful.

Of course, this was after the generation gap between China's firearms and those of foreign countries had widened.

Zhang Shikang rarely insisted on anything, which made Emperor Chongzhen immediately take it seriously and make a decision on the spot.

“Everything in this matter must be done according to your ideas, and the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Revenue must fully cooperate.

Do you understand?" Emperor Chongzhen stared at the Minister of Works Fan Jingwen and the Minister of Revenue Hai Zhongqi seriously.

The look in his eyes seemed to imply that if you dare not cooperate, get out of here.

"I... obey your command." Although Hai Zhongqi frowned, he still surrendered like Fan Jingwen.

For them, times have changed. The current court is no longer the previous court. The current emperor really can dismiss or appoint anyone he wants.

Even though Hai Zhongqi vaguely felt that such autocracy had both advantages and disadvantages, he was completely unable to stop it at this time.

"Now let's talk about the last expense, which is also the largest one."

Zhang Shikang began to flip through his little notebook again, and the hands of the Minister of Revenue Hai Zhongqi trembled unconsciously.

The expenses of the previous reforms have far exceeded the highest expenditures in previous years, and now Guanjun Hou told him that there is an even greater expenditure.

"Disaster relief." Zhang Shikang said these two words calmly.

Upon hearing this, Hai Zhongqi actually breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it was nothing. The imperial court provided disaster relief every year and the expenses were acceptable.

“Several provinces in the north have been hit by drought for years, locust plagues have occurred frequently, and even plagues have appeared, leaving nine out of ten houses empty.

Disaster relief over the years has been nothing more than distributing relief grain, but I feel that this method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause.

I observed the stars at night and realized that the drought in the north will continue for a long time.

The court must find a permanent solution to the drought and solve it from the root." Zhang Shikang said seriously.

"May I ask, sir, what is the permanent solution?" Hai Zhongqi asked with a frown. His words seemed to be puzzled, but in fact they were full of disdain.

The disaster relief policies over the years were almost always originated from and implemented by the Ministry of Revenue. No one knew better than the Ministry of Revenue where the disaster was severe.

If there was a permanent solution, the Ministry of Revenue would have submitted a proposal long ago.

Watching the stars at night is really nonsense.

The people of the Ming Dynasty might believe in it secretly, but as the core of the central ruling party, none of them believed in the theories of ghosts and gods.

"You also understand astrology?" Emperor Chongzhen was also very unconvinced about this matter.

"I know a little bit." Zhang Shikang said shamelessly and with some pride.

For example, the earth is round, and the sun does not revolve around the earth, but the other way around. For another example, if you walk eastward in a straight line without turning, you will eventually reach the origin, and so on.

These most basic knowledge were considered extremely advanced astronomical knowledge at that time.

Zhang Shikang began to be grateful for the nine years of compulsory education.

But it was obvious that no one present, including Emperor Chongzhen, believed it.

Zhang Shikang’s words are deceiving.

"Tell me, what is the solution that will solve the problem once and for all?" Emperor Chongzhen asked with interest.

I don't believe that Zhang Shikang understands astrology. That is Emperor Chongzhen's intuition. This guy never spits out ivory.

However, when it came to the difficult and complicated problems of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen still trusted Zhang Shikang very much, because this guy never joked about serious matters.

“Two words: dig a canal!

A massive canal-digging campaign was launched throughout several arid provinces in the north.

The canals connect the major rivers in the northern provinces, such as the Yellow River, Fen River, Wei River, and other main streams that can get a continuous source of water from melting ice and snow! "

Zhang Shikang said to everyone calmly.

The breathing of the middle-sea state suddenly became heavy, so much so that his chest began to rise and fall.

"Does Your Majesty know how much money it will cost and how much corvée labor will be required to dig a canal on such a large scale?

The people are so exhausted, and the Marquis has built so many workshops, which is already a large-scale construction project. If you want to impose more corvée labor, the people will rise up again!"

Hai Zhongzhong said with indignation on his face.

Zhang Shikang was right. If we could dig canals throughout the north and connect all the rivers that could be connected, we could indeed solve the drought problem.

However, the scale of the project was so huge that it was subconsciously ignored by all officials in the court.

At that time, there were no construction machinery, and the excavation had to rely entirely on the manpower of laborers from all over the country. It would take hundreds of thousands of laborers to repair the Yellow River channel, not to mention a comprehensive canal digging campaign.

The reason why Hai Zhongqi predicted that the people would be unable to bear it and rise up in rebellion is because the corvée policies of successive dynasties were all free.

To put it bluntly, the common people had to bring their own tools to go to wherever they were needed for corvée labor, and they even had to bring their own dry food for the journey. Taking time off from work would result in no one cultivating the fields, and the court made the laborers work without paying them any compensation, so they couldn't even get enough food and clothing.

If the people were prosperous, this could be tolerated for a while, but what is the situation of the Ming Dynasty now?

If you want to dig canals throughout the north, you have to mobilize at least millions or even more laborers. Once public grievances accumulate to a certain level, these millions of laborers will rise up in rebellion.

By that time, it would no longer be as terrifying as the case of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

"Master Hai is anxious again!" Zhang Shikang teased.

"Your Majesty, I would rather die than obey!" Hai Zhongqi ignored Zhang Shikang's ridicule, but stood up and knelt down to Emperor Chongzhen to make a final appeal.

"Master Hai, what if I say that this canal digging campaign is a paid conscription?"