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Yuan Yunlong, Fei Ruhe's brother-in-law, is a leader of the Anfu faction.
Zhu Zhiyu (Zhu Shunshui), Zhao Han's old acquaintance in Qianshan.
Zhang Bingwen, a former Ming official whom Zhao Han highly valued.
Wu Yingji, Zhao Han's exceptionally promoted scholar of rehabilitation.
Although Fang Shenghong was replaced by his elder brother Fang Shengchang after his death, he also had the merit of bringing the territory to work in the early days.
In addition, there are several bigwigs who have not entered the cabinet yet. One is Zuo Xiaoliang who is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials; Xu Ying of the political envoy.Even these four people, Liu Ziren couldn't hold back!
As an honored minister, Liu Ziren's qualifications and prestige are high enough, and he is also an old friend of the emperor.But who made him face it, also a group of honorable ministers?
Liu Ziren continued: "Mr. Fei Ge attended the funeral for his father. Let's go to express our condolences together tomorrow."
"It should." Everyone said.
Fei Chun's whole family lives in Nanjing, but Ding You doesn't need to go back to Qianshan.
Ding You has a tradition of more than 2000 years, and Zhao Han can't abolish it at all.
What Zhao Han can do is to reduce the three-year Ding You period to 27 months (to restore ancient rituals), which is equivalent to shortening by a quarter.And reiterated again and again that Ding You, the local official, must wait until his successor arrives and handover procedures before returning home, otherwise he will be permanently disqualified from being an official.Officials who work in their hometowns return to the Yamen immediately after the funeral, and are not allowed to talk about Ding You.
Liu Ziren didn't have anything to say, so he had nothing to say, and said, "Last year, the national finances only had a surplus of 12 taels. This year, His Majesty made adjustments to the running of the school, which can only stop the steep increase in running costs. In other respects, we can still Provinces are provinces, Qinghai and Tibet are about to go to war, and the cost before and after the war is huge."
"The Ministry of Industry can't save money," Wu Yingji said. "The management of the Yellow River has reached a critical time. In the next two years at most, the Yellow River will divert its entire route to Shandong and enter the sea."
Zhang Guowei has been governing the Yellow River for more than ten years, and has traveled all over Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu.Following the old course of the Yellow River in Shandong, he has been digging canals to divert the flow and building various dams everywhere.
Today, part of the Yellow River flows into Shandong, and part of it flows into the Huaihe River.After another year or two, we will take advantage of the dry season to block the gap on the south bank of the Yellow River and completely complete the artificial diversion of the Yellow River.It is estimated that the funds for controlling the Yellow River for more than ten years will add up to more than 400 million taels, which is equivalent to throwing in 30 taels every year.
Liu Ziren nodded and said, "It is true that money cannot be saved in governing the Yellow River."
Zhu Shunshui couldn't help complaining: "Your Majesty was too anxious. He took over the Monan Grassland and Burma, and now he still has to fight in Qinghai and Tibet. It took more than ten years for Emperor Yongle to conquer Mobei five times. "
Others dare not answer, only Chen Maosheng said with a smile: "Your Majesty wants to fight, let's fight with him. After these few years, the national treasury will be rich."
Zhu Shunshui couldn't help but shake his head, it may take 20 years to be stable, no matter how many years.After fighting Qinghai and Tibet, there is still the Ruan family in Vietnam, the land of the Western Regions, and the land of Mobei, and the remnants of the Tartars in Ningguta have not yet been wiped out.
Every time we expand the territory, everyone is very excited, but after the excitement, the brain hurts.
Especially in Mobei, the cabinet ministers are worried, what should they do if they encounter Zhu Di's situation?
Of Zhu Di's five expeditions to Mobei, only the second expedition achieved the greatest results.In the other four times, the Mongols fled in anticipation, even throwing away their cattle and sheep.Especially for the fifth time, hundreds of thousands of troops set off in mighty form, and were treated like dogs by the Mongols, and there was no real fight at all.
That kind of play is purely a lose-lose situation.
Daming was wasting money and people, almost ruining the finances.Of course, Mongolia can’t please. A large number of livestock are too late to take away, and the season of grazing is missed. Every winter, the tribe will starve to death.
Zhang Bingwen said: "The business tax and tariffs have been rising year after year. Most of the trade in Coconut City (Batavia) has resumed. Last year, there was no need to invest any more money, and more than 3 taels were handed over to the central government. The money that will be handed over in the future There must be more and more. The population of the four provinces of Shanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and Liao is also recovering, and the land tax has been collected in full, and the wealth of these four provinces is also increasing. After three years, there should be a large fiscal surplus gone."
"By the way," Yuan Yunlong remembered something, "This morning, I received a report from the prefect of Taiwan that the Spanish governor of the Philippines requested to establish a supply point in Ryukyu."
Liu Ziren was a little puzzled: "The governor of the Philippines asked for the establishment of a supply point, why didn't he talk to the governor of Luzon, Zhang Huang?"
Wu Yingji smiled and said: "Zhang Huangyan must be worried. What if a supply point is set up in Ryukyu, and Fujian maritime merchants will trade with Spain in the future, and the goods will be directly sent to Ryukyu instead of going to Luzon?"
Zhu Shunshui said: "Zhang Huangyan was too worried. The Spaniards are more worried about this matter than he is. Once the trading port is changed to Ryukyu, no one will go to Cebu. Wouldn't the Spanish colony of the Philippines be abolished? In my opinion, the supply of Ryukyu At most, it will supply vegetables, fruits and grains."
"There will still be goods." Zhang Bingwen blinked.
Everyone understood instantly, and then they couldn't laugh or cry.
The Philippine colonial officials want to smuggle when supplying Ryukyu!
On the other side of Cebu Island, there are layers of supervision by officials, and it is very troublesome to bring more goods.Setting up a supply point in Ryukyu can avoid supervision and take some goods up halfway.This is like a long-distance bus, which stops shortly after leaving the station, picks up a few more passengers on the road, does not need to buy a ticket (trade permit), and the money earned is all the driver and conductor.
Liu Ziren was able to rank third in the cabinet, and it was not for nothing. He immediately made a decision: "Let the Spaniards supply supplies in Ryukyu. The more deeply they are involved with the interests of Ryukyu, the stronger China's control over the Philippines will be."
If the scale of smuggling is formed in Ryukyu, how many Spanish colonial officials will benefit?In the future, if there are conflicts between the two countries, the last thing they want to fight is the Spanish officials.
Even after the rise of Li Quan's caravans, those Spanish colonists were very likely to buy ships and join them in smuggling with Li Quan.Even if something happened, if the King of Spain knew about it, it could all be blamed on the Chinese businessman.
By the way, there is also a quota for silver shipped from America to the Philippines, but the actual volume is more than three times the limit.The Spaniards have been smuggling, but there is not too much money. With the cooperation of the Chinese, their smuggling will be even more rampant. Anyway, no one takes the king seriously in private.
Speaking of the Philippines, the cabinet ministers began to discuss Chittagong again, planning how China would receive Chittagong as a dowry after Portugal sent the princess.
Zhao Han's "brainwashing" of officials was still very successful, and the cabinet ministers talked about the overseas situation clearly.From Japan to India, if you mention any important port, they can think of the approximate location.
"Masters, important military information!"
A person from Zhongshushe shouted outside the door.
"Come in."
Cabinet ministers went into office, but soon they were sluggish.
This military situation is too weird. The dispute between Qinghai and Tibet has been settled by the Mongols themselves.
The eldest son of Gushi Khan was 60 years old, and he led the army to settle his sixth brother.The sixth son of Gushi Khan returned to Qinghai after the defeat, and the eight brothers stayed in Qinghai without fighting.After the eldest son won, he didn't bother to return to Lhasa to succeed Khan, and continued to stay in his resident to graze.The eldest grandson (the son of the fifth son of Gushri Khan) continued to rule Kham and provided taxes to the Heshuote Mongolian tribe.
What the hell is this?
The plans of Datong monarchs and ministers all failed, and the descendants of Gushhan Khan actually became Buddhists collectively.
"Then do you still want to fight?" Liu Ziren asked.
Zhu Shunshui said: "The preparations for grain, grass and civilian husbands have been almost a year. How can you say that if you don't fight, you won't fight?"
"But who should I hit? What is the name of the teacher?" Liu Ziren asked again.
No one answered, and could not answer.
Gush Khan's eldest son is called Ozir, who is extremely brave and fierce general, but he has no interest in governing the country.
Historically, he returned to Lhasa to succeed Khan three years after his father died.Then, from time to time, he took his followers and left Lhasa to graze herds in other places.Hearing that there was a rebellion in Lhasa, he led his troops back to quell the rebellion easily, and then continued to take his troops to herd herds.
This person's thinking is very strange, he will fight whoever rebels, and he will win once he fights.If he won the battle and didn't manage it, his brothers and nephews could only stare blankly.
In current Qinghai and Tibet, monks have no real power.
It is precisely because Ozir did not care about the government, and his son later did not care about the government, that the ruling power was gradually controlled by Diba (the chief executive).Diba felt that he could not compete with the Mongolian nobles, so he took the monk to do it together, and finally the power completely fell into the hands of the monk.
The courtiers found the emperor, and Zhao Han fell into silence for a long time after reading the information.
Gush Khan's nine sons and one grandson were neither united, nor fought, nor cooperated with the Datong Army, and did not even inherit the position of Khan.Zhao Han couldn't even dream of such a bizarre situation. He really wanted to split the heads of these guys and study the brain circuits carefully.
"Advancing north and south, let's say it's recovering the lost land, let them hand over the land in the late Ming Dynasty!" Zhao Han didn't bother to think about it, and just sent troops.
Once the army is overrun, one or two of Gushri Khan's children and grandchildren will lead the way.
Of course, it is also possible to form a group with the outside world, it depends on whether they are really united.
Chapter 904 [Issuing Banknotes]
"What's wrong with Song Ge?" Zhao Han asked.
Zhang Lu, a famous doctor, replied: "Exogenous wind-cold and damp pathogens cause the meridians of the whole body to be blocked. This is arthralgia."
"Speak humanly." Zhao Han said angrily.
Zhang Lu popped out two words: "Rheumatism."
Zhao Han asked again: "Is it serious?"
Zhang Lu replied: "The bones in the knee and ankle have been deformed, and the pain is so painful that I can't get off the ground. I need long-term treatment and rest."
"Understood," Zhao Han said, waving his hands, "you should treat him with all your heart."
Zhang Lu bowed her hand and resigned.
Zhao Han buried his head in Song Yingxing's resignation letter, and quickly replied with two words: No.
It is false not to allow, but three requests and three resignations are required.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Han added an official to Song Yingxing, a false title of honor.This is to prepare for Song Yingxing's retirement. Once he resigns, he will be promoted once, and he will be able to return to his hometown when he officially retires.
Song Yingxing is about to retire from illness, and Fei Chun is in Dingyou.
There is also Xiao Huan, who has been Ding You for a year and a half.Xiao Huan first engaged in intelligence, and then took charge of the criminal law for more than ten years.After joining the cabinet, he is also responsible for legal affairs, revision of old laws, and promulgation of new laws. He knows these things best.The Ministry of Punishment handed over the plan to the cabinet, mainly relying on Xiao Huan to review it, and the chief assistant and the emperor were responsible for the final decision.
Zhao Han continued to review the memorial, but it was Zhang Guowei's memorial, requesting an additional 200 million taels of silver to build the dam and gate of Anshan Lake.
Zhang Guowei artificially diverted the Yellow River, and half of the river route was different from the Yellow River hundreds of years later.
The Yellow River of later generations suddenly turned to the northeast in Lanyang (Lankao County), which was caused by the breach of the embankment of the copper tile chamber.
The collapse of the copper tile chamber is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made disaster.
The Qing Dynasty followed the way of the Ming Dynasty to manage the Yellow River. In order to maintain water transportation, embankments were built on the north bank every year, forcing the Yellow River to flow into the Huaihe River.In the Huanghuai River section, a large amount of sediment was silted up, causing the eastern section of the Yellow River in Henan to breach all the year round. Every time the breach was completed, dams were built, drinking poison to quench thirst and maintaining water transportation.
In this case, in the early years of Yongzheng, a breach occurred near the Tongwaxiang.At that time, the river bed was not high, so embankments were blocked and embankments were built. Over time, it became dangerous work.By the end of Qianlong, the situation was even worse, and it could no longer be blocked, so water could only be released in the middle to release the flood.By the end of Jiaqing, the situation was extremely dangerous, and money had to be spent every year.
Until the Daoguang period, this dangerous Yellow River road had become a hard-hit area for corruption.The imperial court allocates funds for governance every year, but less than one-tenth of the funds actually used for projects, and more than 90% of the money has been embezzled.
Corruption aside, if the flood does not come any year, the officials will take the initiative to break the embankment, flooding countless villages on the north bank, and take the opportunity to ask the court for money to build the embankment.
The embankment was built every year, but it fell into disrepair for a long time. The Yellow River broke through here, and it happened to coincide with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Qing court directly destroyed it.
If it is flooded, it will be flooded, let’s lie down, and the Yellow River can change its course as it likes, gradually forming the Yellow River’s waterway hundreds of years later.
The situation faced by the Datong New Dynasty was different. Tongwaxiang was not in danger at this time. The real danger was in the Huanglinggang area, where various breaches had occurred since the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
So Zhang Guowei diverted the water at Huanglinggang and widened the channel of the Qishui (Zhaowang River) several times.In the future, the main road of the Yellow River will flow through Caozhou (Heze) and Yuncheng, merge into Anshan Lake and intersect with the Grand Canal, and then merge with Dawen River and Guangji Canal on the west side of Dong'e.
Anshan Lake is the Dongping Lake of later generations, but it is several times larger than Dongping Lake and extends all the way to Liangshan.
The Guangji Canal is the Jindi River.
If Zhang Guowei does this, the Grand Canal from Liaocheng to Jining will be messed up, and it will be difficult to sail when the flood breaks out in summer.As time goes by, the sediment accumulation is serious, and that section of the Grand Canal may be completely abolished.This is also the reason why the Ming and Qing dynasties did not want the Yellow River to divert.Once the canal is abandoned, what about water transport?
In addition, the Yellow River flows into Anshan Lake. After dozens of hundreds of years, the area of the lake will continue to grow, and it is very likely that it will become Liangshan Lake again!
The overall situation is like this. Compared with the Yellow River hundreds of years later, only the river course from Henan to Dong'e is different.Since then, it has been exactly the same. They are all in the territory of Dong'e, and flow into the ocean through the Daqing River. There will definitely be no Daqing River in the future, and the Daqing River will become the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
The Grand Canal is still extremely important. Zhang Guowei asked for money this time because he wanted to build multi-level dams and gates in the north and south of Anshan Lake to prevent the Yellow River from flooding the canal as much as possible.
One opening is 200 million taels!
There are other funds invested. Both Caozhou City (Heze) and Dong'e County have to be relocated to avoid the Yellow River. (Hundreds of years later, Dong'e County was relocated by the Yellow River diversion, and the location is far away from this time)
To relocate and rebuild the two cities, a lot of silver has to be poured in.Including the Yellow River Project, the total budget will definitely exceed 1000 million taels.
"It's really time for Guowei to ask for money." Zhao Han sighed helplessly.
The advice given by the cabinet is to let Zhang Guowei postpone for two or three years.First allocate a part of the silver taels to make preparations, and then add more silver taels to complete the work after the financial situation is abundant.
Zhao Han took a pen and wrote down the instructions: order Datong Bank to lend 200 million taels to the Ministry of Industry, and this loan is dedicated to the management of the Yellow River.
Although the national treasury does not have much money, Datong Bank has money, and it has absorbed a lot of private funds!
Banks in the Ming Dynasty were mainly engaged in money exchange at first, and gradually began to absorb deposits. There are three types of depositors: officials (private deposits), firms (corporate deposits), and clubs (collective deposits).
Officials and company deposits are easy to understand, and clubs are various social organizations.For example, it is not appropriate to put the collective funds of Fushe in anyone's hands, so they should simply deposit them in the bank.
As for the big landowners in the countryside, they didn't bother to deposit in the bank, so they dug cellars to bury their silver.
Naturally, Datong Bank also has a deposit business, and more and more small citizens are starting to deposit their surplus money at home to earn interest.But the bank also has a rule that the minimum deposit is one tael, and deposits below one tael will not be accepted.This is because Datong banknotes (storage slips) use special paper, and the banknotes themselves have production costs.
In comparison, the banknotes issued by non-governmental banks are of much inferior quality, and it is easy to be accidentally laundered.
Zhao Han called the cabinet ministers over: "An additional 200 million taels for Yellow River management can be used to allow Datong Bank to lend. The loan period should be limited to five years, and the national tax revenue will be used as collateral."
Although the Datong Bank was also opened by the imperial court, the rules must be followed. It cannot be left-handed and right-handed, and loan collateral must be provided.
The ministers did not object, but felt a little awkward.
When it was changed to the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's internal treasury ran out of money, so he reached out to the treasury, and finally let the eunuchs take charge of the keys to the treasury.The treasury is also exhausted, and taxes are collected from the common people. The most typical one is the "three rates".
The Datong imperial court is strange, first clearly distinguishing the internal treasury and the national treasury, and absolutely not allowing them to be confused.The funds in the treasury were not enough, and suddenly there was a war, so they issued bonds to the people, and the imperial court actually borrowed money from the people.Even if there is no additional tax for water conservancy construction, the normal practice is to ask merchants to "donate money". I have never heard of asking for a bank loan.
"There is another thing to call Zhuqing here," Zhao Han said. "In the past few years, civil and military officials have been complaining, saying that it is inconvenient to use food as the amount of the official ticket and military ticket. It will start from New Year's Day next year." , the face value of official tickets and military tickets are all changed to Yuan, Jiao, and Fen.”
A dollar is a tael, a dime is a denarius, and a penny is a penny.
Liu Ziren asked: "Can the old tickets still be used as usual?"
"Of course it can be used," Zhao Han said, "but it has to be recycled year by year. When Datong Bank receives old bills, it will not release them. All of them will be deported to the central government for centralized destruction."
Zhu Shunshui said: "If the banknotes use silver as their face value, they are no different from Daming banknotes. This thing... cannot be issued indiscriminately."
Zhao Han said: "Just like the printing of food notes in the past, the issuance of one stone of notes by the imperial court is equivalent to borrowing one stone of grain, which must be included in the national treasury. Printing those money notes in the future, for example, printing 100 million taels next year, is equivalent to borrowing 100 taels by the imperial court." Ten thousand taels, these are all subject to interest."
Zhao Han has no money and wants to print money!
But it must not be printed indiscriminately, and the bottom line must be kept.
SFS