"Master Zhong, after the great victory in Haizhou, what should we do next?" Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhong Jinwei with a smile.
When the officials in the Wenhua Palace heard Emperor Chongzhen mention the Battle of Haizhou, they all relaxed and looked at Zhong Jinwei with a smile.
But after hearing what Emperor Chongzhen said, Zhong Jinwei did not appear as happy as they imagined. He said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, the war in Haizhou is not over yet. Whether Haizhou can be defended still depends on the placement of ministers."
Just send the follow-up supplies to defend the city."
Emperor Chongzhen remembered that there was indeed such a thing, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He still smiled and said to Zhong Jinwei: "It doesn't matter, let the new army go again. Master Zhong will stay in the capital to deal with what we just discussed."
matter."
Zhong Jinwei turned his head slightly to look at Wen Tiren and others. Seeing that they also had relaxed expressions on their faces, he couldn't help but emphasize: "Your Majesty, Jianlu should not be underestimated! There is a lot of luck involved in winning this battle of Haizhou. There is also a lot of luck in it.
This is because the generals of each army are veterans in the army and cooperate well with each other. Even so, the casualties of the new army in this war were the heaviest in history."
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen's face finally no longer looked relaxed. Before, he only knew that Haizhou had won the battle, but did not care about the specific situation of the battle in Haizhou. Now, listening to Master Zhong's words, he still fought hard.
hard.
"Master Zhong, how is the specific situation of the battle?" Emperor Chongzhen immediately asked with concern.
The Wenhua Hall suddenly became quiet. Everyone looked at Zhongxing Hou and listened to his story about the Battle of Haizhou.
So Zhong Jinwei recounted the Battle of Haizhou to them from beginning to end. Especially when he talked about the Niutugang Blockade, it made people even more worried.
However, when they heard that the new army was on its way back to Niuzhuangyi and that Jianlu had basically nothing to do, they looked happy again.
It is indeed unexpected that the New Army suffered so many casualties. This is because the previous casualties of the New Army are used as a reference, and the comparison effect is even more obvious.
After Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately said: "Master Zhong, is it because the new army is in such a dangerous situation? Is it because the number of the new army is not large enough?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhong Jinwei nodded and replied.
Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand in an imposing manner and said at the same time: "Then expand the new army again, and this time reorganize the capital camp into the new army!"
The new army was very easy to use, and Emperor Chongzhen was completely reassured about this way of building an army.
In this way, the New Army can expand from a strength of 5,000 to about 50,000. This is a flying speed, which is so surprising.
Upon hearing this, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, hurriedly went out to report: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has a lot of money to spend. If the new army is to expand so much at once, it will affect the feudal king's feudal North America and disaster relief work in various places."
Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, also came out to object and said: "Your Majesty, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. You need to take care of it from all places!"
Other civil servants also followed suit, talking about their three-acre land, how much money they would spend on it this year, and so on.
You said it, I said it. When it came to the end, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated.
When Zhong Jinwei saw it, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, it is easier to take a big step... That means that the new army does not need to increase so much. If there are 20,000 new troops, I think we can attack Liaoyang.
.”
He spoke smoothly and almost said the words that later generations would be too quick to say. Fortunately, he discovered it in time and replaced it.
Zhong Jinwei, the commander of the new army, said this, which was equivalent to giving Emperor Chongzhen a step up. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhong Jinwei, nodded in agreement: "Then let's temporarily expand the number to 20,000 people as Master Zhong said."
In the past, every time a battle was fought, a sum of money could be made. Especially in the battle to defeat Shenyang, there was countless money.
But in the past few times, I have just spent money without making money. The feudal feudal North America has to be accelerated, and a lot of money has to be spent. The bottleneck of the development of everything, money, has begun to appear again.
"Bi Qing, when it comes to money and food, you have to plan carefully, and focus on saving all non-essential expenses." Emperor Chongzhen ordered Bi Ziyan.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Ziyan agreed, then changed the topic and immediately said, "I know how to reduce expenditure, but just relying on expenditure reduction is not a solution. I think we need to increase revenue."
Everyone in the Wenhua Hall, not only Emperor Chongzhen, but also the cabinet, six ministries, or the admiral of the East Factory and the commander of the Jinyiwei, heard Bi Ziyan talking about Kaiyuan, and all turned their attention to the Marquis of Zhongxing. Only Zheng Zhilong was left feeling Inexplicably, he followed everyone's gaze and looked at Zhongxing Hou.
Zhong Jinwei was a little speechless. He couldn't come to him all the time! But he didn't shirk it. Because he knew that if they wanted open source, it was nothing more than taxation. Their thinking was very limited and they wouldn't have any good ideas. In the final analysis, it is better to think about this open source method yourself.
Therefore, he thought for a while and then reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I suggest that the maritime ban be officially lifted and the Municipal Shipping Department be established to collect commercial taxes on goods entering and leaving the Ming Dynasty."
In this request, the Dutch focused on the power of this shipping company, and one can imagine how great the benefits were.
Zhong Jinwei thought that after he expressed his idea, someone would definitely ask questions, and he had already prepared a method on how to operate this shipping company.
He was right. Sure enough, someone had doubts, but it was not what he thought. Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Household Affairs, said: "Marquis Zhongxing, although the sea is banned in our dynasty, there are also shipping companies. But there are not too many. In order to make ends meet, there are only two municipal shipping companies left in Fujian and Guangzhou."
"What?" Zhong Jinwei was shocked when he heard this. He thought he heard it wrong. He looked at Emperor Chongzhen and then at the other people in the palace, and found that they had such expressions on their faces, and couldn't help but wonder.
So Zhong Jinwei quickly asked: "How come you can't make ends meet?"
"There are strong winds and waves at sea, and the risks are great. In order to sympathize with the suffering of the people, the imperial court did not impose heavy taxes, so each municipal shipping company's annual income is limited. Up to now, each municipal shipping company has adopted a fixed taxation system. The imperial court only controls the municipal shipping department. If you hand over the predetermined taxes, you will no longer be required to collect taxes." Bi Ziyan explained to Zhong Jinwei.
After he finished speaking, he found that Zhong Jinwei's eyes were dull, as if he was stupid. He couldn't help but wonder where he had said something wrong.
Emperor Chongzhen also found out, so he called Zhong Jinwei and said: "Master Zhong, Master Zhong..."
It took three calls in a row to wake Zhong Jinwei out of his sluggish state.
"Your Majesty, who created this bullshit municipal transport system? It's like being kicked in the head by a donkey!"
Zhong Jinwei's words shocked everyone in the Wenhua Palace. They did not expect that Zhongxing Hou, who was usually considered gentle and elegant, would use such foul language.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that Zhong Jinwei was so excited, he immediately realized that there was something fishy going on. He quickly asked: "Master Zhong, why do you say such a thing?"