Chapter 592: The Battle of Life and Death on Land and Sea
In order to adjudicate this time's military expenditure dispute between the army and navy, Li Xuan did not mess around, otherwise it would be easy to cause trouble, so he planned to let the army and navy submit their respective military expenditure budgets before deciding on the distribution ratio of military expenditures between the two sides.
Especially this year's military budget and next year's military budget.
According to the military budget, it is necessary to first determine how much military expenditure will be spent, and then coordinate. Otherwise, it is inappropriate to directly state the proportion.
According to this principle, the army and navy have also prepared in advance!
However, it is actually difficult to determine the exact amount of military expenditures because military expenditures include personnel expenditures, ordnance expenditures, infrastructure expenditures, training and combat expenditures, etc.
For example, personnel expenses include the soldiers' settlement expenses, monthly salaries, food expenses, clothing, daily necessities, and battlefield rewards, etc.
Then the ordnance expenses include the purchase of new artillery, muskets, ammunition, horses, carriages, swords and spears, bows and arrows, arrows, etc., and even the marching pots used for cooking must be taken into account.
Then there is infrastructure, including troop camps, the cost of building fortifications, etc.
But the above is not the big deal. The real big deal is training and combat expenses. It is said that once a cannon is fired, gold is worth ten thousand taels. Whether it is artillery or musketeers, in order to ensure their operations, all kinds of supplies and ammunition are consumed.
Big, even cold weapon troops are a big expense.
Therefore, the military expenditures of the same army in peacetime and wartime are completely different. It is also wartime, but the military expenditures of the same army are also very different if they frequently fight and then rest for a while.
Taking the Guards as an example, the Guards currently has three infantry battalions that have been formed, and one infantry battalion that is being built, a baggage battalion, an artillery battalion, and a cavalry battalion. In addition, there are also troops directly under the military headquarters.
of several teams.
The above-mentioned troops are not yet full strength, and currently only have a strength of nearly 3,500 people. However, the daily maintenance costs are about 15,000 silver per month.
But if you participate in frontline combat, the cost will at least double. The exact amount depends on how many shells, bullets, arrows, etc. the Guards artillery battalion fired, and how much ordnance was lost at the same time.
During the Battle of Guangzhou, there is actually no way to estimate how much money the Guards spent. Although the military expenses of the Guards were said to come from royal expenses, in fact, the Guards embezzled money during the battle.
There was a large amount of army supplies, so we don’t know how much military expenditures we spent in the end.
This chaotic situation has resulted in the current expenditures of the navy and army of the Tang Dynasty being in a mess. They are all spent when necessary. Who knows how much money has been spent and how much money will be spent next.
In addition, the early military expenditures were all directly allocated by the Ministry of Taxation, and the military did not receive cash at all, so it will be difficult to calculate the military expenditure budget for a while.
In the end, Li Xuan got a rough figure from the tax department!
It is impossible to calculate statistics in the past, but in the first half of this year, from January to June of the second year of Xuanping, the Ministry of Taxation spent a total of about one million taels of silver on military expenses.
And this is still cash. In addition, there are a large amount of food, ordnance, clothing and other materials that are not included in the calculation. If these are also included, the above number will be almost one million more.
Finally, the Ministry of Taxation calculated military expenditures for the first six months of the year to be 2.5 million taels of silver!
If it is the second half of the year, considering that the military continues to expand its troops and the scale of the war is also expanding, military expenditures will be even greater. Two and a half million yuan will definitely not be enough. In the end, it may cost three million yuan.
Millions or more.
The Ministry of Taxation estimates that military spending in the second half of this year will reach about 3.5 million taels.
If the first half of the year and the second half of the year are added together, then in the second year of Xuanping, the military expenditure of the Tang Dynasty will reach 6 million taels of silver, and this number is only the most conservative estimate. In fact, there are not many people in the tax department.
I think it will be six million taels. As the scale of the war expands, seven million taels is possible.
And how much is the fiscal revenue of Datang? Based on the current control area, the Ministry of Taxation estimates that the normal fiscal revenue in the second year of Xuanping is about 6 million taels of silver.
Yes, that’s right, the Tang Dynasty’s annual fiscal revenue is not enough for military expenditures!
Although it is said that Guangdong has just been conquered, especially Guangzhou, which has resulted in insufficient tax revenue in Guangdong. The Ministry of Taxation predicts that the tax revenue in Guangdong will increase significantly next year, but even so, the Tang Dynasty's
The fiscal revenue is not enough for military expenditure.
Not to mention, the various expenses of the Tang Dynasty were not only military expenses, but also various administrative expenses, relief, construction and many other expenses.
How today's Tang Dynasty fills the gap depends on the replenishment of various Ming Dynasty official materials and cash seized from the homes of former Ming officials.
In other words, if Governor Zhang in Changsha knew that the Tang Dynasty complained that military spending was too much and fiscal revenue was too little, he would be furious!
From the time he took office last year to now, the imperial court has only given him a total of less than one million silver in military expenses! Although the total amount is more than this number, at least half of it has been lost.
In terms of military expenditures, in fact, the Ming Dynasty's military expenditures on suppressing the puppet Tang rebels were not less than those of the Tang Dynasty. However, with the great god "Piao Mi" sitting in charge, Zhang Yue was able to
Not so many were obtained.
As for how Zhang Yue solved the military expenses, he naturally found a way in Huguang, asking the local government to collect grain and other materials, asking the gentry to contribute money and grain, etc., and asking the Jiangnan provinces to cooperate in payment. These were all methods.
Otherwise, even if Zhang Yue is a god, it would be impossible for him to maintain an army with a total number of 100,000 people in Huguang, northeastern Guizhou, Guilin, northern Guangdong and other regions!
If you add in what the court gave you and Zhang Yue's self-raised military expenses, the Ming Dynasty actually spent more on military expenses than the Tang army in this war!
But the military expenditure actually spent on the army was less than half of the Tang Dynasty. Why?
It’s still the same word ‘drift’.
In terms of actual military expenditures alone, the actual military expenditures of the Tang Dynasty exceeded those of Zhang Yue's army.
Everyone knows that the pseudo-Tang thieves have sharp weapons, but the cost of playing with guns and cannons is not that high. Even if Zhang Yue wanted to play with them, he couldn't afford them!
The Ministry of Taxation has given a military expenditure budget for the second half of the year, but the army and navy do not agree with it. The army's budget is that they will need at least six million taels of military expenditure for the second half of the year.
reason?
One is to expand the army, the other is to expand the scale of the war, and the last one is that they are preparing to improve the treatment of the garrison to stimulate the morale and combat effectiveness of the garrison.
Therefore, the Army dug its heels in and finally came to the conclusion that military expenditures of at least six million taels of silver would be needed in the second half of the year.
The navy was not to be outdone. They did not dare to say six million taels of silver, but instead said two million taels of silver!
Faced with the shamelessness of the army and navy, Li Xuan sullenly typed back the two budget reports. Are you kidding me? This adds up to eight million. He chopped it up and sold it to the tax officials of the tax department.
, you can’t even sell it for so much money.
Then I listened to the army and navy talking nonsense for more than an hour, which finally made Li Xuan angry!
He regretted coming here today, and immediately stood up and said: "You continue to discuss, no matter what, we must discuss a result today!"
Then he went out directly, but at this time he stopped again and said to the lecturer beside him: "They are not allowed to go out until they have discussed a result. In addition, they cannot let them sleep. If they
If you dare to sleep, I will pour cold water on you!"
Then he thought about it and said: "You keep an eye on it yourself. If they start fighting, ask the guards outside to stop them immediately!"
Li Xuan's voice was not too low, and all the navy and army generals in the conference room heard it. At this time, all of them had helpless expressions on their faces. His Majesty may be completely angry today.
But even if His Majesty is angry, he will never give in on the proportion of military expenditures!
So after Li Xuan left, when the guards outside the door closed the door tightly again, the navy and army started to stare at each other again!
Half an hour later, an army colonel was in urgent need of urination and wanted to go out to relieve himself. He was stopped by saying: His Majesty has decreed that no one is allowed to go out unless relevant agreements are reached between the land and sea.
And he kindly reminded him that His Majesty just didn't let you go out, and didn't say you weren't allowed to urinate. Just solve it on the spot. Anyway, there are bottles and bottles.
The army colonel simply untied his pants after hearing this, then found a vase and started peeing.
It is absolutely impossible for the army to surrender without peeing. Think back to the time when our army fought with the puppet Ming army and survived such a difficult thing. It was just a matter of peeing on the spot. What's the big deal?
.
If someone takes the lead, the rest of the group will naturally follow suit!
By the early morning of that day, the more than twenty army and navy generals who were locked in the conference room had already turned the conference room into a smell of shit and urine, which made the few bachelors of the Hanlin Academy who were in the conference room under constant supervision.
I had to wear a mask.
At this time, although the feces and urine smelled very bad, what bothered everyone more was sleepiness!
At one o'clock in the morning, Zeng Ziwen, who couldn't stand it anymore, discussed in a low voice with a group of army officers and decided to show the generosity of the army's big brother and decided to give one percentage point to the navy. The navy could take 6% of the navy's
military spending.
After hearing this, Bao Yifen showed a trace of sarcasm and did not answer. He shook his head and refused: "The Army's move is too insincere. Are we, the Navy, a beggar? Just give away one percentage point? At least 29%!"
When Zeng Ziwen heard this, he thought, this is nonsense, so let’s stop talking and let everyone continue to fight!
Isn’t it just that I don’t sleep? Who is afraid of whom?
In this decisive battle that affects the life and death of land and sea, they will never back down easily!