"In today's troubled times, the top priority is to raise wages. The source of wages is nothing more than land tax and dingyin. It is also the water administration, salt administration, customs duties, and gold."
Zhu Yihai still has a huge gap in military expenditure. The supply of silver and grain is related to the military pay, equipment, etc. of the imperial camp. It is also related to the expansion of the imperial camp, and also to the reorganization and improvement of the Beijing camp and the provincial camp.
When the cannon fired, there were thousands of taels of gold, but the troops and horses did not move, and the food and fodder went first.
Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying now each oversee a province, and both are the richest provinces.
"In the peaceful years in Jiangnan, the salt tariffs of Dingcao and Cao accounted for one-third of the country's total. However, the annual income of Dingcao and Salt Pass and other places in Zhejiang Province could account for half of Jiangnan's annual income, accounting for more than one-sixth of the country's total."
Ma Shiying is also a relatively pragmatic official. Although he cannot shirk the responsibility for the collapse of the Hongguang court, especially the fierce internal fighting with the Donglin Party, Zhu Yihai's men have now changed their past and no longer engage in internal fighting between the parties.
It was in the favor of the emperor to specialize in local affairs, especially restoring people's livelihood and raising money and food.
Jiangnan, also known as the southern Zhili region, is now divided into two provinces, Jiangsu and Anhui. Among them, only the Changzhen Susongtai in Jiangsu Province, plus the original three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou in western Zhejiang, provided astonishing taxes to the court.
This was before the Ming Dynasty when the industrial and commercial tax was abolished by the bureaucrats led by Dong Lin. Otherwise, the development of industry and commerce in Jiangnan would be even worse.
As the governor of Jiangsu, Ma Shiying was in charge of a province, and he took over a province that had been abolished. Fortunately, Songjiang was quite stable last year, developed well, and had a good foundation.
Now the imperial court opened a port trade in Shanghai, established a shipping department, established a foreign trade firm, etc., and began to restore the handicraft business in the Jiangnan region. Songjiang's cotton and Suzhou's silk are all very famous in overseas trade markets.
It is also a very popular product, especially the Japanese, who are rushing to get it, and they want as much as they can get.
Affected by the war before, cotton planting, mulberry leaf planting, sericulture and silk weaving in Jiangnan were greatly affected. Now Ma Shiying proposed that the first step is to restore grain planting and increase the grain planting area to ensure that Jiangsu Province can be self-sufficient in grain and have a surplus.
In addition, we should also try our best to resume cotton and mulberry planting, resume sericulture, resume silk weaving, etc.
Especially under the new tax system, these handicraft manufacturing industries can provide a lot of tax revenue, not to mention the employment and resettlement of a large number of refugees heading south.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, although Jiangnan was wealthy, it was precisely because of the development of handicrafts and commerce that most of the fields in Jiangnan were actually used to grow cash crops, and a large number of people moved into the cities to become small handicraftsmen. This led to the development of Jiangnan.
Although we are a land of plenty, we cannot be self-sufficient in food and have to rely heavily on food supplies from Huguang and Jiangxi.
But what makes them different from places like Shaanxi and Gansu where food is not self-sufficient is that they are originally granaries, but because of the development of handicrafts and commerce, they do not grow food and plant more profitable cash crops.
Now everything is waiting to be done.
As the governor of Jiangsu, Ma Shiying was very bold. He did not say that all the fields in Jiangsu Province would be used to grow food. Instead, he formulated a more detailed plan to ensure self-sufficiency in food and even supply Nanjing and part of the imperial camp.
In addition, instead of completely abandoning handicraft business, the cultivation of some cash crops must be resumed to ensure the supply of raw materials for Jiangsu's handicraft manufacturing industry.
Agriculture and handicraft business work together, and he doesn't want to give up either.
"I want to have my cake and eat it too, but how can it be simple? Do you have any good ideas?"
"This is what I think about it. First of all, of course, the fields cannot be left uncultivated. In fact, all prefectures, counties, villages, and even local owners and farmers must draw a red line according to their cultivated land to ensure that food is cultivated within the red line.
The number of acres must also ensure the amount of natural grain that is paid as land tax, and then only the land outside the line can be used to grow cash crops.
In addition, in order to increase food production, after all, food is very precious in times of war, so we plan to increase the planting of miscellaneous grains in mountainous forest lands, including a variety of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, sorghum, soybeans, radish and other miscellaneous grains promoted by His Majesty. These grains are no more expensive than rice and other gold.
Even if some mountainous, forested, and dry lands lack water, they can still be planted. Even if the harvest is smaller, if you plant more, you will still get a lot of additional grains.
When cereals such as sweet potatoes and potatoes were introduced from abroad in the early years, they were usually grown as pig food. However, even the poorest cereals can become life-saving food in today's era of war and famine.
If people use more gardening and mountainous land to grow miscellaneous grains, they can sell more rice, and miscellaneous grains can also replace some rations, ensuring food and clothing for the family and even increasing their income.
"If I can ensure self-sufficiency in food, I can also resume the cultivation of cash crops and handicrafts in Jiangnan, then I believe that with today's new tax law, the income of the land, Caoyan, Guanli and other industries in Jiangsu Province can be
It exceeds 6 million, and if it recovers within five years, it may even reach 10 million taels of silver."
Ruan Dacheng was not to be outdone at this time. During the Jiajing and Wanli era, Zhejiang accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country's taxes. Now Zhejiang is the land of Emperor Longxing and the first place to implement the New Deal reforms. It is turbulent elsewhere.
From time to time, Zhejiang was also the first to recover and develop, especially in eastern Zhejiang.
Zhejiang has the three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou in the western Zhejiang plain, as well as Ningxiao and Ningxiao, two land of plenty to the south of Qiantang. In terms of geographical advantages, it is actually no worse than Jiangsu.
Yanzhou, a mountainous city, used to be the second-largest economic prefecture in Zhejiang Province.
Ningbo used to be the designated port for trade between Japan and the Ming Dynasty.
Now Zhu Yihai has established trading ports in Ningbo, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, and Jiaxing. Routes have now been restored with North Korea, Japan, and Ryukyu. Silk paper from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is exchanged for copper and silver from Japan. The multinationals here
The profits from the trade were extremely high, especially when it brought much-needed silver, copper, and sulfur to Zhu Yihai.
It also launched trade with Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries. Although it was still in its infancy, most of the huge profits that used to be in the hands of the Jiangnan gentry and maritime merchant groups now went into the pockets of the imperial court.
"Ten million taels of silver a year, I believe you can do it, but there is no need to rush, stability is the priority. Restoring handicraft commerce and foreign trade is very important, but food production security is also more important. These days, sometimes it is gold
It can’t be exchanged for food.”
Food, a strategic material, must be safe. Sufficient food is the foundation of Nanming. In order to ensure food security, slowing down the recovery and development of industrial and commercial trade is also a necessary sacrifice.
Manpower and land must be given priority to ensure food cultivation.
Zhu Yihai knew that Ruan Dacheng and Ma Shiying, two former traitorous officials, were working very hard to implement his new policy, but he was also worried that these two people were working too hard and going too far.
"Of course, we are now also in contact with Japan, North Korea, and even Luzon, Annan and other places. We export silk, porcelain, etc. to them in exchange for grain, spices, etc., but grain is not an ordinary cargo and is not conducive to long-distance transportation. The cost of transportation
It’s very high. If we can produce it ourselves, it will definitely be more cost-effective than buying it from distant overseas vendors.”
In fact, as long as the safety of Jiangnan can be guaranteed and the Tatars are not allowed to cross the river to plunder and slaughter, the Jiangnan occupied by Zhu Yihai will definitely be richer than the Central Plains occupied by the Tatars now.
After all, the north has been fighting for many years. Various peasant armies, then official armies, and Qing armies have repeatedly attacked. Especially after the Qing army entered the customs, they caused even greater damage, and Zhu Yihai's Northern Expedition also added fuel to the fire.
The place currently occupied by the Tatars, the granary Huguang area, is now completely destroyed. It will not be able to regain its status as a granary for a while. It is difficult to be self-sufficient in food, let alone external supply.
Huainan, another relatively prosperous place, has now been destroyed. Especially the salt industry in Lianghuai has been almost completely destroyed. The Ming army took advantage of its naval superiority and now controls the Yangtze River, canals, and offshore areas of Xuhuai.
The two most important treasures, Lianghuai Salt and Cao Cao, are now held by Zhu Yihai.
After losing the Huguang granary, losing the salt canals in Lianghuai, and then losing the handicraft trade in Jiangnan, the trade in Fujian and Guangdong, and the taxes in central Sichuan, what else do the Tatars have?
Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia in the northwest is a wasteland that is crying out for food. It has been in chaos for so many years, and now it can be said that it has been completely destroyed.
Henan and Shandong are not doing much better either. The once prosperous Central Plains area has experienced wars and wars, and is now even deserted for thousands of miles. Everyone has fled, and the rest are struggling to support themselves.
In the heart of the Central Plains, the fields are barren, and chickens and dogs are no longer heard.
Shanxi and Hebei are not much better. In the Liaodong area, the Ningyuan Corridor is also very poor anyway. On the contrary, the area east of the Liaohe River has been occupied by the Tatars for a long time and has been operated for many years. It is now the most stable area of the Tatar territory and is also the most productive area.
Get a better piece.
Not only can it be self-sufficient in food, but it can even provide a lot of support to the Tatars entering the customs.
Everyone needs time.
Today, the situation in various parts of the Central Plains is far worse than that south of the Yangtze River.
For example, in history, Sichuan entered a climax of extinction from this time on. The Qing and Ming armies in Xiying repeatedly massacred all forces. In the end, there were originally more than three million people officially registered. By the early years of Kangxi, Sichuan statistics only
There are more than 18,000 people left, and the total number of young and old is only 50,000 or 60,000.
The Qing troops stationed in Sichuan were often so hungry that they could only capture prisoners and eat them.
The Ming army in central Sichuan, such as Wu Dading, Wang Xiang, Yuan Tao and other tribes, often fought and ended up having to rob each other's people on each other's territory to satisfy their hunger. Whether they were soldiers or civilians, they would eat whatever they caught.
This is the destructive power of war.
During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Jingzhou area was a place where the Three Kingdoms saw a tug of war, resulting in a sharp decline of more than 90% of the population, which did not recover until the Southern Song Dynasty.
The massacre and destruction of Sichuan in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties forced the Qing Dynasty to fill Sichuan with Huguang.
Sichuan is relatively isolated and has difficulty in population mobility, making it difficult to recover itself.
The situation in the Central Plains is relatively good. During wars and famines, large-scale population movements occur over large areas, but when the wars and famines pass, they will soon be able to return.
Even if the population is lost, it can be quickly recruited from other places to rebuild.
After all, the Central Plains is the heart of the world.
But the current situation, because of the emergence of Zhu Yihai, it is no longer possible for the Tatars to engulf the world. The war has unexpectedly begun to enter a stalemate stage. In this situation, the two sides will fight more frequently and the destruction will be more severe.
War can exacerbate famine.
Zhu Yihai does not want the Central Plains to become as desolate as Sichuan in the early Qing Dynasty in history, but the current direction of development is towards that.
In order to prevent the war from spreading to the Jiangnan area and making it impossible for Jiangnan to recover, Zhu Yihai could only choose to burn the war into the land occupied by the enemy.
The Qing army cannot be allowed to resume production in the Central Plains, and it cannot be allowed to resume taxation, especially in the frontline areas of Huguang and Huaiyang.
If Jiangsu and Zhejiang can be stable, they can earn millions of taels of income a year. If the two provinces are stable for a few years, they can even contribute more than 20 million taels of revenue a year. But the premise for all this is
The Qing army will not cross the river.
If the Qing army crossed the river, the damage caused would make it impossible for Jiangsu and Zhejiang to recover.
"Your Majesty, the rebels in Hunan have not been completely wiped out. The rebellion of Sha Dingzhou, the chieftain of Yunnan, has spread even more. Now the imperial court is sending troops to Taiwan in the southeast to fight the Dutch. Now if they cross the Yangtze River and go north, will they not be able to cope with it?
?”
Yan Wogong asked if this could delay the Northern Expedition, even if it took another year and a half. The rear was unstable and the front would continue to use troops, especially as the situation on the western front was deteriorating again.
"It is precisely because the western front is unstable and there are so many problems in the rear that we have to focus on the Northern Expedition. Don't I know that fighting on multiple fronts is dangerous? But if we stop the Northern Expedition at this time and turn around to deal with the rebellion in the rear, then
The gain outweighs the loss, and can even be very dangerous.”
The rebellion in Yunnan required the local Ming army in Yunnan, as well as the Ming army in Hunan, Guangxi, Sichuan and other places to help quell the rebellion. They even had to make appropriate concessions to the chieftains in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi, and give them some appeasement rewards.
Use their strength to defeat these rebellious chieftains.
Although doing this is actually raising the risk of raising tigers, it is a hidden danger in the future after all. It is urgent now, so we can only concentrate on the present. As long as these chieftain tribes in the rear can be appeased first, we have to endure it.
Zhu Yihai once again reiterated that they have only one enemy, and that is the Tartars.
You must first eliminate the Tartars occupying the Central Plains before you can distract yourself from other things.
Among all Zhu Yihai's strategies, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions were the top priority. This was his base camp and his basic base, which must be protected. In order to prevent the Qing army from attacking, he had to take the initiative to attack it.
The battlefield must be in Jiangbei, it must be in Xuhuai, Shandong, and it must not be in Jiangnan.
The core of the imperial army, three divisions, three armies and eighteen towns, is actually not very strong, and the battlefield is the best training ground. It is useless to just replenish armor and weapons without fighting.
"Who does Your Majesty intend to appoint as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition?"
"I will still personally lead the Sixth Division to cross the Yangtze River for the Northern Expedition. This time I plan to divide the Northern Expedition troops into three routes. The left route will be from Anqing to attack Hefei, the middle route will be from Yangzhou to attack Xu and Huai, and the right route will be from the sea to attack Shandong."
Although there is no latest news from Sichuan and Shaanxi, for Zhu Yihai, he has already determined that the western front will be defeated, so he has to launch the Northern Expedition on the eastern front.