Dominate the Country

"Your Highness. This is a memorial from the Imperial Household Department." Liu Wu approached Chen Ming with a timid look.

The spring breeze in February melted the ice on the ground, but after seeing the memorial from the Imperial Household Department, Chen Ming's face was still as cold as the cold winter. He threw the memorial to the ground fiercely, "Cylinder, cylinder again!"

More than one year has passed since Chen Han started to imitate the steam engine. With the blueprint and the actual steam engine in hand, the blacksmith masters collected by Chen Han from all sides easily made all the parts. When assembled, the effect is no worse than the imported goods shipped from Europe. But it is difficult to further improve the steam engine! A cylinder, the Imperial Household Department hit a wall in the processing of this problem.

They were completely hammered by hand, and they could not make any better changes in the smoothness of the inner wall of the cylinder. They faced a very serious test-the precision of the cylinder.

And how much does Chen Ming know about steam engines?

Or ask: How deep is a third-rate liberal arts college student's understanding of steam engines?

Chen Ming can tell them that it is 'o'!

Chen Ming's only mark on Watt's steam engine is the clamor in a certain post in a certain forum: What problem did Watt solve for the steam engine?

Answer: 1. Separation condenser; 2. Cylinder precision processing; 3. Crankshaft drive. This is used to refute the steam engine as a product of John Bull's industrial system. Whether this view is correct or not is not discussed, just talk about Chen Ming's true understanding of the steam engine, that's all.

Now the separation condenser is already available, Watt has already made it, that is the second step of precision processing of the cylinder.

As a cylindrical metal part that guides the piston to perform linear reciprocating motion in the cylinder, and the shell that increases the pressure of the air by expanding and compressing, the importance of the cylinder to the steam engine is self-evident. But Chen Ming is helpless.

"Double the reward." Chen Ming's tone is a little gloomy. Cylinder precision processing involves the current Western barrel processing capabilities. In addition to the mud mold casting cannon, Europeans also have an integral cannon casting method - first casting the cannon iron or bronze into a round metal piece, and then boring it into a cannon barrel with a boring machine, which not only saves time, but also ensures the smoothness and roundness of the barrel, and the quality is absolutely guaranteed. But the boring machine is not mature at all, and the toughness and firmness of the rotary cutter brought by the West are also quite average. You must know that Chen Ming realized this problem as early as when he was in Xiaonangou. At that time, it was for drilling the barrel!

After four years, the bounty has been increased again and again, and now no one in the Fu Han Army Gun Bureau and the Iron Factory can really pick this golden flower. At most, there are some minor improvements and small rewards.

If the boring machine is used to process the cannon, it will cost more. So now the West also uses more mud molds to make cannons.

What Chen Ming cannot guarantee now is whether the boring machine and accessory cutters brought to him by Britain and France are the most outstanding industrial achievements of this era, or whether he was fooled by Robert and Perrier? This question must wait until the arrival of the Swedes in the summer to be confirmed.

"Watt succeeded in improving the steam engine, so he certainly solved this problem. How did he solve it?" After Liu Wu carefully retreated, Chen Ming could not sit still and stood up. He walked to the windowsill and looked at the asparagus fern on the bonsai stand beside the windowsill. He thought to himself, "Could it be that the boring machine has also matured [relatively] in the past few years?" If that's the case, it's God helping them.

The development of Western civilization to this day is really about to enter a qualitative change process. The emergence of industrial boring machines will also make a huge leap in the military strength of Western countries.

"Damn it!" Chen Ming got the most outstanding scientific and technological achievements in the entire Europe of the current era from Europe, and then decisively found a big problem for himself.

"It seems that sending people to Europe is inevitable." This year is 1772 in the Western calendar. In three years, the Americans will rebel. Chen Ming doesn't think that his tossing in China can affect North America thousands of miles away. So there will be only a few years of peace in Europe.

The focus of the American War of Independence was not on the thirteen colonies in North America, but on the anti-British group led by France fighting John Bull all over the world.

Another year has passed, and it is the 37th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. The Fu Han Army still uses the Chongzhen era, the 144th year of Chongzhen. With the arrival of spring, the river embankment construction and reinforcement in Huguang and Liangjiang are also on the agenda. Before, it was just a simple repair. As for the river embankment repair and reinforcement along the river in Lingnan, it has been done in winter.

Chen Ming does not need to do this matter, and his second uncle Chen Cong will handle all matters. But what about money and food?

This money and food directly hit the military expenditure, a full one million silver dollars and 200,000 dan of grain.

For the current Fu Han Army, this amount of money and food is not enough for the consumption of all the soldiers on land and sea for one month, but the significance of this matter is extraordinary, because this is the first time in several years that military expenditure has been moved because of "government affairs". This incident is a very obvious metaphor. Chen Hansong's broad financial period has finally come to an end.

Last year, the Fu Han Army had been holding back on internal affairs for a year. It laid a solid foundation, dredged key rivers, repaired bridges and roads on a large scale, and opened up small loans. It scattered money across the country, and made a lot of money from loan sharks. At the same time, it spent its own money like water, and the treasury was about to be emptied.

This year's fiscal budget is very generous, but this itself includes this year's taxes. Moreover, when the year was coming to an end, a military report was sent from the northwest, saying that there was another disturbance in Xinjiang hh, and the conflict between the new and old green sects in Gansu was getting bigger and bigger. The "rebel troops" who started the army under the name of "Yuan Dun Sect" were fishing in troubled waters. Although they were not as powerful as Hunyuan Sect and Qingshui Sect, they were still fishing in troubled waters.

The General Staff quickly drafted a plan to attack southeastern Gansu from Hanzhong in the spring and summer of next year. If everything went well, they could hook up with the "Yuan Dun Sect Rebel Army" and open up a horse import line. This was the rhythm of the military asking for money.

As a result, the government took the opportunity to fill in a large amount of money in the fiscal budget on the grounds of "managing the civil affairs of southeastern Gansu" and gathering refugees in Gansu. The two sides argued for a month, and finally reached an agreement without Chen Ming coming forward to stand with the military. If the plan to send troops to Gansu is really necessary, the government will fully support the military. Before that, the military will cut a part of its budget to allow the government to build a better official road while renovating the river embankment in the area north of Nanling.

Although it was only 1 million silver dollars and 200,000 dan of grain!

"A tiered tax on land?" Wang Huizu, Xiong Bingzhang and others looked solemn. Will this policy, which has been brewing for a long time, be implemented this year? Another document handed to them was a simple statistics of the number of landlords with more than 1,000 acres in various places. And based on this list, the amount of money and grain that can be increased after the tiered tax on land is roughly calculated.

That is close to 2 million money and grain.

"A drop in the bucket." Chen Ming's evaluation of this income was four words. Chen Hui certainly knew it, so he proposed another new tax item-stamp tax.

Chen Ming knew without thinking who gave Chen Hui this idea, it must be Luo Dongni. The personal income tax proposed by Chen Ming to Chen Hui earlier was buried by him without any leak.

"Your Highness, the land tiered tax does not actually collect much money and grain, but will cause local criticism." This tax directly harmed the interests of local large and medium-sized landlords, and the income was only 2 million silver yuan, which was too uneconomical. "It's the stamp tax." With foreign examples as a basis, the benefits are very rich.

"One thousandth is too small, what's wrong with two thousandths, three thousandths, and five thousandths?" Xiong Bingzhang, who didn't know much about stamp tax, said this first, "It's better to impose stamp tax and temporarily put the land tiered tax on hold."

Stamp tax is praised as a good tax in the West, a good tax that plucks the most goose feathers and hears the least goose cries. Wang Huizu thought for a moment and said, "Two thousandths is feasible, but five thousandths is too high."

"It's just that our national conditions are different from those of Westerners. Even if stamp duty is added, it is difficult to estimate the amount." Wang Huizu always felt that the Fu Han Army's military pay was high. According to his idea, since the Fu Han Army had already given military merit land, the soldiers' military pay should not be paid at all. These days, he has learned about the military pay of Western countries in detail, which is quite low.

Take the British Army as an example. The most basic hunters in its infantry units only have a salary of 4 pence a day, which is only 120 pence a month, which is also half a pound. If converted into silver dollars, it is close to 2.5 silver dollars. And the soldiers pay for their own food every day, plus some snacks like beer. The price of a piece of bread in the barracks is 2 pence!

The most basic regular soldiers of the Fu Han Army have a military pay of three silver dollars a month, which is net income. All food, drink and clothing are provided by the troops. When they really go to the battlefield, there are wartime allowances, which are almost double the military pay. The average weekly wage of a British miner is close to 70 pence. [The salaries of cavalry, drummers, and flag bearers are much higher]

And the Fu Han Army also has military merit fields!

He had mentioned this idea to Chen Ming a long time ago. As the number of troops gradually increased, the huge military expenses seemed to be a mountain pressing on Chen Han's shoulders. In the past two years, if the Fu Han Army had not swept the South Country and seized too much floating wealth and food, as well as large areas of estates and shops that were sold at low prices, raising a huge amount of funds for Chen Han, the military expenses alone would have dragged down the Fu Han Army long ago.

In addition to the high salaries of the army, government officials and civil servants also opened "high salaries" - relatively speaking, this is too heavy a burden for Chen Han, whose economy has not yet completed the transformation and whose taxation has not changed qualitatively. And last year Chen Han also squandered so much silver.

"Your Highness should not worry about this year, but next year. Next year's war will be heavier and more frequent than this year, and military expenditure will be greater. The increase in the controlled areas will also increase the number of government officials and civil servants, and fiscal expenditure will increase greatly..." In Wang Huizu's view, next year is the most critical time.

He knew that the military expansion plan recently brewed by the Grand Commandery was very loose this year. The main force will not increase greatly, but the local garrison divisions will be formed and reorganized - two garrison divisions in one province, that is, four garrison brigades.

And by next year, when the real large-scale offensive is launched, the garrison forces in various places will be transformed into brigades again, and the extra two brigades will enter the front line to assist the main force in attacking the Qing army. The amount of military expenditure after the completion of this entire plan is completely suffocating for Wang Huizu.

"What if the military pay is exchanged for fields?" The room was quiet, and Wang Huizu, Xiong Bingzhang and others retreated. At this time, Huang Song's voice suddenly sounded in Chen Ming's ears.

"Military pay can be exchanged for land or silver dollars, and the soldiers can choose. The price of the land can be 10% or 20% lower than the market price. Prince, do you think there will be a few soldiers who want money instead of land?"

Chen Ming looked at Huang Song in surprise. This cousin really made a big splash. "Why didn't I think of it?" He slapped his thigh hard. There is no need to pull out the account book. Chen Ming is familiar with the number of official fields in various places under the control of the Chen Han government. "One acre of good land is at least two months of military pay for a soldier, and this must be added to the wartime subsidy."

The Fu Han Army now has a total of more than 300,000 main forces and garrison forces. The latter's military pay is even lower than the former. Even if these more than 300,000 people are all main combat forces and all on the battlefield, only the most basic soldiers are counted. It's only 2 million acres of land a year, and this is still an overestimation. Then add officers at all levels, 3 million acres?

But how many acres of official fields does Chen Han hold?

This is equivalent to selling the land to the soldiers in a different way! The latter, in China at that time, was considered a rich peasant's life, right?

Even if some of these people chose to take silver dollars instead of land, the military pay expenses that Chen Han "saved" easily exceeded 10 million.

Chen Ming smiled, and he felt that a stone weighing on his heart suddenly disappeared. "Good, good." He praised, while patting Huang Song's shoulder with his hand, "Your words are better than a big victory."

Walking out of the room with a big laugh, Chen Ming immediately summoned Wang Huizu, Xiong Wenbing and other direct descendants, and asked them to prepare a memorial based on Huang Song's words, and add rough statistical calculations. He wanted to go to the Han Palace immediately to see his father.

For Wang Xiong and others, a concise memorial with a certain far-reaching influence is easy to prepare. Because starting from Huang Song's idea, there are too many points to extend and discuss. One of the most obvious examples is that the military merit farms in various places will inevitably prosper rapidly, and then the influence will spread, and so on.

Xiong Bingzhang looked at Chen Ming and Huang Song's backs as they walked out together, and his expression was somewhat sad. Did he underestimate them?

"The method of using land instead of military pay seems simple and clear now, why are we all thinking about it in vain?"

Wang Huizu was also puzzled at this time. Using land instead of military pay, these four words are not some unfathomable and fantastic ideas as long as they are said, why didn't any of them think of this trick?

"Your Highness, don't you think this is similar to the guard system of Zhu Ming?" Huang Song didn't suddenly open his mind, but accidentally picked up a book of Yongle Encyclopedia, thought of Zhu Ming, and then thought of the guard system.

Didn't the guard system of the Ming Dynasty also use land instead of military pay to a certain extent?

It's that simple.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to see you."

It was already four o'clock, and the sun was setting. Chen Hui was playing billiards at this time, which was also contributed by Rodoni. Now this Portuguese man of Chinese nationality is enjoying himself in the Han Palace and is very popular. He has been officially granted the title of Yilang by Chen Hui, a fourth-rank official.

Chen Hui is old, and he can ride horses, but not polo. He is even worse at playing football and basketball, which are not dignified and obstruct the view. Chen Hui himself is not very fond of playing mahjong, but Gao likes playing mahjong very much.

When Luo Dongni presented the table tennis, it immediately filled the gap in Chen Hui's life. Even though this kind of thing is made of ivory, and after Chen Ming's "transformation", the playability of the table tennis has greatly increased, which makes Chen Hui like it even more.

"The old man of the Huang family also entered the palace with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Chen Hui didn't listen, and simply changed into a robe to see Chen Ming. At a glance, he saw Chen Ming, who was relaxed and couldn't hide his smile.

"What good news is this? What makes you so happy?"

In recent days, the entire Chen Han high-level knew that the Crown Prince was worried about the annual income. Now Chen Ming was laughing so happily, Chen Hui didn't think about good things, such as the tax issue had been resolved, but was thinking about some unexpected surprises...

"Father, it is indeed a happy event, a great happy event. This good idea of ​​my cousin will solve the great crisis of our dynasty..."

ps: The author wants to cry. In order to solve the problem of military pay, I thought of many ways and thought about it for a week. I opened countless brain holes and racked my brains. Finally, I came up with a way to replace pay with land, and then I searched these four words on Baidu...

I cried because of my own stupidity/(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ woo woo