Seeing this situation, Zhenwu couldn't help but frown slightly. To implement the New Deal, he must get the full support of the royal family, princes, nobles, and civil and military ministers. Otherwise, the New Deal will inevitably end in vain. After pondering for a while, he said: "I There is no shortage of money, so why bother to implement the New Deal? Have you ever thought about it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yinxiang stepped out of the queue and bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, the Green Camp has recently increased their pay, the Eight Banners have increased welfare funds, officials have increased their salaries, and the navy and the new army of the Imperial Guard have frequently expanded their recruitment. I am stupid and think that the implementation of the New Deal is because The court cannot make ends meet.¡±
Zhenwu and Yinxiang asked and answered this question, and all the ministers immediately cheered up. Who didn't know that Yijun Wang Yinxiang was Zhenwu's right-hand man, how could he openly oppose Zhenwu in the court? , this was obviously a double act. No one expected that Zhenwu would explain the reasons for the implementation of the New Deal in this relatively loose way, which was quite novel for everyone.
"It is true that the New Deal was implemented because the imperial court was unable to make ends meet." Zhenwu glanced at Yinxiang with satisfaction and said slowly: "I am not short of money, but the imperial court is! In recent years, the country has enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the national treasury has been steadily increasing. Now it has Nearly 20 million taels seems like a lot, but this is accumulated over the years.
Twenty million taels is indeed a lot, but for the entire Qing Dynasty, it is not too little, but too little! Shanxi Shanxi merchants established a "Jin Hesheng" bank account and raised 70 million taels of silver. The Qing Dynasty only had 20 million taels of silver. Don't you think it's shabby?
Besides, twenty million taels really won't be of much use. This year, I spent more than two thousand taels from internal funds just to relieve the drought in the northern provinces, to increase the pay of the Eight Banners Green Camp, to increase officials' salaries, and to expand the recruitment of the new naval guards. Ten thousand taels of silver. "
Hearing these words, all the ministers couldn't help but secretly curse. They spent more than ten million taels to relieve an ordinary spring drought, and also exempted all provinces from paying official taxes for a year. Who's to blame? No matter how much money I can earn, I can't help but throw money away like water.
After a slight pause, Zhenwu continued: "Don't keep looking at my Guangshusi Bank. I have no shortage of money, but there are many places to spend it. The summer resort where the Supreme Emperor lives needs to be overhauled, and the capital's palace needs to be renovated." Zijian, Zongxue, Jueluoxue, and Eight Banners official schools all have large-scale expansions of government schools, state schools, and county schools. Australian immigrants, the Eight Banners Green Camp increase their salaries every year, officials increase their salaries, and the new navy guard army expands. These These are huge expenses.
Logically speaking, these huge expenditures should come from the imperial treasury, but how much savings can the imperial treasury save in a year? Millions of taels are nothing compared to the huge expenses above!
Why should I implement the New Deal to increase the imperial court¡¯s annual income? This is to prepare for a rainy day. My internal funds have been quite abundant in the past few years, but these incomes are unsustainable. This year, more than 10 million taels of maritime trade routes were auctioned. This is a one-time deal, and I cannot afford to have another one in a few years. Another auction? The same is true for ocean-going trading fleets.
Since internal funds are weak, these expenditures can only be financed from the treasury. If the treasury has no money, what are the consequences? "
As he spoke, Zhenwu glanced at everyone on the steps and said in a deep voice: "Who is in the Yan department?"
Wang Yuanqi, the left minister of the household department, hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, my servant, the left minister of the household department, Wang Yuanqi, is here."
Zhenwu nodded and said, "Calculate for them how much land the Qing had and how much was occupied by the Manchus?"
After pondering for a while, Wang Yuanqi said loudly: "Back to the emperor, last year's statistics show that the Qing Dynasty has fields, mountains, dang, and borders, with a total of 6,950,764 hectares and 90 acres. The Manchu people The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has not yet calculated the exact amount of land occupied, but it is estimated that the total amount is less than 400,000 hectares!"
"With such a ratio, what are the pros and cons for the imperial court and the Manchus by implementing the New Deal?" Zhenwu asked.
Wang Yuanqi couldn't help but be slightly startled. This cannot be a simple conversion and comparison. Although the amount occupied by the Manchus is small, it is all good and fertile land, which is not the same as mountainous and borderland. Furthermore, the new policy mainly targets officials and gentry names. How can this be compared to a field where no grain is paid? He suddenly realized that Zhenwu was deliberately trying to confuse things.
He immediately became very nervous. It was absolutely impossible to expose that. It was not easy to become a second-grade official, but being dismissed from office was just a matter of Zhenwu's words. He hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, that is, with the simplest conversion , for every seven hundred taels of silver the imperial court received, the Manchus only gave out forty taels, and the rest were all given by the Han people."
Seeing that Wang Yuanqi had come to such a conclusion, all the noble princes, civil and military ministers secretly scolded him for being shameless, but no one came forward to refute. On the one hand, they could not tell the specific number, and on the other hand, the land of Han officials and gentry was indeed larger than that of Manchus. There are countless times more people, this is a matter of fact
Zhenwu nodded slightly and raised his voice: "The Eight Banners of Manchuria are the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. Don't you even bother to do something to benefit the imperial court with just a cent? I will vigorously expand the new navy guard force to expand overseas and develop for you. The result of sealing off the country overseas is you.??In exchange for your insensitivity to the court, you will get nothing?
Seeing that Zhenwu was prone to rage, Yinju and Yinxiang took the lead in kneeling down. Yinhui, Yinli, and the ministers Xiao Yongzao and Song Zhu also knelt down soon after, and all the royal family members, princes and princes also knelt down. Your Excellency, the civil and military officials didn't dare to hesitate when they saw this situation, and they all knelt on the ground.
Seeing Zhenwu's plan to entrust overseas enfeoffment, all the princes and nobles who enfeoffed America were greatly panicked. Not only did the investment in the American enfeoffment be huge, but the benefits were also huge. They could not afford to lose. If Zhenwu was angered, the consequences would be really unimaginable. , now that the expedition in Africa has begun, Zhenwu's attention has begun to turn to Africa. If they do not know practical things, the American feudal country will most likely fall into a situation where the grandmother is not close and the uncle is not caring.
As soon as Prince Jian Yarjiang'a knelt down, he spoke first: "Your Majesty, please calm down. If you want to compare it with the overseas feudal state, it is not worth mentioning that sharing the family with the officials and the gentry as one. How can the slaves put the cart before the horse? They will definitely do their best." Support the New Deal.¡±
Prince Yu Baotai also followed closely and said: "When the Qing Dynasty flourishes, the Eight Banners will prosper. If there is no skin left, how can the generals be attached? However, any move that is beneficial to the court will be supported by the Eight Banners without hesitation. It is also necessary to destroy the family and build the country." No matter what."
Prince Xian Yanhuang also knelt out, but after hearing Baotai finish what he was about to say, he couldn't help but secretly curse, and hurriedly followed: "I second my opinion."
For a time, there was a series of "secondary opinions" in the square.
Zhenwu looked at the people below him calmly, knowing that they were just afraid that he would no longer strongly support the overseas feudal countries, and did not really support the New Deal. He did not want them to violate the rule openly and secretly, which would lead to bad things, and everyone would gradually become like this. After it calmed down, he opened. Said: "I wantonly expanded the Eight Banners and recruited new navy and imperial guard troops in order to increase the speed of overseas expansion. If you want to make a fortune, you can go overseas to build manors, dig mountains and mines. If you think the money is slow, you can go We can catch and sell slaves, and we can also burn, kill and loot. I can¡¯t see what I see. After conquering Africa, my next step will be to plunder the three great empires of Arabia, Ottoman and Mogul, and enfeoff Africa and America. It will continue to expand, and there are plenty of opportunities for you to make a fortune!"
Upon hearing this, all the royal family members, princes, nobles, and civil and military ministers in the square immediately opened their eyes. No wonder Zhenwu was vigorously expanding his army. It turned out that he still had such great ambitions. The eyes of all the generals were even red. , Zhenwu made it clear this time that he would plunder the three great empires of Arabia, Ottoman, and Mughal. With the combat power of the navy and the new imperial guard army, he was simply going to rob money!
The expansion of enfeoffment in Africa and the Americas also allowed the princes, nobles and civil and military ministers who had not enfeoffed to see the opportunity of overseas enfeoffment. They were all very excited. What was even more rare was that Zhenwu actually stated that he would not care about overseas enfeoffments. They are free to do whatever they want, which makes them unhappy.
Zhenwu glanced at everyone, raised his voice and said: "Overseas, you can be punished as you wish, but in the Qing Dynasty, you must abide by the rules and try your best to safeguard the interests of the court. Compared with overseas territories, the Qing Dynasty itself is fundamental. , if the homeland cannot be protected, and overseas feudal countries are no more than a rootless tree, no matter how well it develops, it will only serve as a wedding dress for European countries.
The reason why I want to implement the New Deal is not only to consolidate the rule of the Qing Dynasty and to continuously expand the number of troops, but also to concentrate financial and material resources to develop military workshops. The capital will soon establish a large-scale military workshop. This move can both Solving the livelihood of the banner people can also continuously improve the performance of firearms and increase the manufacturing speed of firearms and ammunition.
I can tell you without hesitation that the implementation of the new policy will not only benefit the country and the people, but also benefit Manchuria! "
As soon as they heard that military workshops would be vigorously developed to increase the manufacturing speed of firearms, and that large-scale military workshops would soon be established in the capital, all the princes and nobles who dreamed of setting up overseas all-firearms battalions became excited and bowed one after another: "Your Majesty Sheng Ming"
For a time, words of praise to the saints continued one after another, and everyone was afraid of falling behind.
Seeing this situation, Yinju, Yinxiang and others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Zhenwu stretched and tightened, rubbed back and forth, and drew a few big cakes outside, so that all the princes and nobles could be docile. All these letters of distribution were brought by the navy and overseas enfeoffment. Now with the strong support of the full army, the Han army will not be able to make any big waves no matter how hard they jump. This matter can finally be solved.
Zhenwu also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The promise he made to everyone was not a blank check. As long as the Northwest War started, the new imperial guard army would not only be satisfied with pacifying the Junggar tribe, but would inevitably expand from the northwest to Central Asia. There is basically no risk in the African expedition. After occupying the two great empires of West Africa, South Africa, Arabia, and the Mughal Empire, it is indeed time to take action. The eldest, Yinti, and the second, Yintu, are probably impatient.
After everyone calmed down a little, he said in a deep voice: "Let all the officials waiting outside come in."