Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

"Nowadays, the tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty is 9000 million taels, the salary of officials across the country is 1000 million taels a year, the war indemnity is 2000 million taels, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs spends 200 million taels. Engage in foreign affairs, make looting, build guns, repair rivers, and provide disaster relief. It takes more than 5000 million taels. There are less than 1000 million taels left, and we have to feed a total of 100 million soldiers across the country." Guan Xuqing continued.

"Your Majesty, it can't be done. The minister is the one who leads the soldiers. I know that each soldier needs one tael of silver a month, and he also needs to eat. A soldier needs two taels of silver a month, and a year. 24 taels. An army of 100 million would cost 400 million taels a year." Dong Liang counted with his mouth open.

"Hehe, you see. It's just that they won't be paid, and these soldiers will eat up my 1000 and two million taels of silver just to eat." Guan Xuqing frowned and said.

"I know, I want them to eat less. Save some money for the emperor." Dong Liang said innocently.

"Hehe, the imperial court doesn't need hungry soldiers, and there is no shortage of food and pay. They shed blood for my Qing Dynasty, and I can't treat them badly." Guan Xuqing continued.

"What does the emperor mean?" Dong Liang looked at Guan Xuqing puzzled.

"Disarmament," Guan Xuqing said decisively.

"Disarmament??" Dong Liang asked in surprise.

"Yes, of course, you can't say that to the outside world, you can only talk about the reintegration of the troops. The troops of the Manchu and Han Eight Banners and the Green Battalion have no combat effectiveness, and they can't even serve as a guard of honor. Why does the imperial court support them? This time let you serve as Zhili Governor, just take care of this errand. Disband all Manchu and Han Eight Banners and Green Battalion soldiers. Of course, you can’t kill them with one shot. Those who are capable should stay for the court. Understand?” Guan Xuqing said.

"I obey the order." Dong Liang knelt down to receive the order.

The Lion Awakens Chapter 19 The Qing Dynasty

After Dong Liang took office, Guan Xuqing also began to exercise the power of the emperor.

Every day, Guan Xuqing carefully reviewed the memorials and telegrams sent by various ministries and provinces.Coming from the 21st century, he certainly knows the current situation of the Qing Dynasty like the back of his hand.

Generally speaking, the Westernization Movement launched by Li Hongzhang still had certain effects. Compared with the Second Opium War, the national power of the Qing Dynasty was much stronger.At least in Asia, the Qing Dynasty was still a superpower.Much stronger than Japan at that time.Gross domestic product, which is now commonly known as GDP, is also among the top three in the world.Four times higher than in Japan.

Therefore, it is relatively easy to develop Westernization, even though it was defeated in the Second Opium War.The indemnity was paid, but it did not shake the foundation of the Qing Dynasty.It is still easy to spend more than 5000 million taels of silver every year to develop industries.

Today, the configuration of the Qing army is mainly composed of the Hunan Army, Chu Army, Huai Army, Eight Banners, and Green Battalion.Among them, the Chu Army, the Huai Army, and the Hunan Army are all troops with certain combat effectiveness that have survived hundreds of battles, large and small, and the troops are equipped with Western guns, such as the Mauser and the Hatches. , Krupp Steel Cannon, etc.Many officers have studied in military schools.It can be said that these three troops can be called the elite of the Qing Dynasty.The soldiers of the Eight Banners, who are mainly composed of the children of the Eight Banners, still use primitive bows and arrows.Just because the ancestors said that the Manchus are based on riding and shooting.And refused to use foreign guns and cannons.All of them can only walk birds to gamble and smoke opium.There are also some outstanding individuals with high ideological awareness, who have not fallen under the aura of their parents.The Green Battalion soldiers in the 64th town have different abilities, and some troops are quite powerful because of their commanders.Some were lax in eating empty quotas, and even exchanged guns and bullets issued by the court for money to buy wine and cigarettes.Officers are afraid of death, and soldiers have no fighting spirit.This is the status quo of the Qing army today.

Guan Xu counted his days, and the Sino-French war was only two years away.If the current situation does not improve, history may repeat itself.

The navy is even worse. The Beiyang Navy has not yet been established, the Nanyang Navy is only equipped with a few thousand-ton gunboats, and the Guangdong and Fujian Navy only have a few small boats.There are no more than 40 ships, large and small.It's not enough that the French fleet was stuck between the teeth during the Sino-French battle.However, due to the large investment of the navy, the training cycle is long.Guan Xuqing still decided to start rectifying from the army first.

One morning, after Guan Xuqing listened to the routine reports from various ministries.He said, "Where is Zuo Zongtang?"

"The veteran is here." Zuo Zongtang took a step across.

"Master Zuo, how many troops does our Qing Dynasty have now?" Guan Xuqing asked.

"Army has a total of 100 million troops, 20 each of Chu Army, Hunan Army, Huai Army, Eight Banners, and Green Battalion." Zuo Zongtang has led troops for many years.

"The Qing Dynasty can no longer afford to support so many soldiers. I have decided to disarm the army. I have given Dong Liang the order to abolish part of the troops of the Eight Banners and the Green Camp starting from Zhili," Guan Xuqing said.

As soon as this remark came out, there was another uproar in the court.Even Prince Chun, the emperor's own father, frowned.

"Your Majesty, the soldiers of the Eight Banners are the root of the birth of our Qing Dynasty, and they cannot be dismantled. The ancestors of this army are all the heroes of the founding of the Qing Dynasty." Prince Lu protested first.

Prince Li is the commander of the Eight Banners Army.Regardless of whether this army can fight or not, with 20 people in hand, it is still very confident to speak in the court.The previous plan to assassinate Guan Xuqing failed, and he thought that if Cixi fell from power, he would also be in bad luck, but who knew that Li Lianying was beaten to death without saying a word.The little emperor seemed to know nothing.It just popped up again recently.

"This matter has already been settled, so there is no need to discuss it again. In the Second Opium War, the British and French allied forces only had 4000 troops. How could we beat our mighty army of more than [-] to the north? Forced Huang Kao to move to Rehe , and died there in the end. What a disgrace it is for the capital to fall. How can I support this kind of army?" Guan Xuqing cursed.

Prince Dun didn't know how to explain for a while, and knelt on the ground foolishly.The rest of the ministers did not dare to say no.

"Your majesty is wise, please let me know how many troops are left behind." Zuo Zongtang said.

"My Qing army has been unified and reorganized. From now on, there will be no division of Hunan Army, Huai Army, and Chu Army. It will be collectively called the Qing Army. There are 50 regular troops. Commander Zuo, I will leave the reorganization to you. As long as I can An army that fights tough battles only needs soldiers who are not afraid of death." Guan Xuqing said loudly.

"Zha..." Zuo Zongtang knelt down to accept the order.

"I now appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Qing Army. Together with Dong Liang, we will organize the unified military affairs. The army is still based on battalions, with [-] officers and soldiers in each battalion. Ten battalions are one standard, and ten standards are one department. The Qing Army has a total Ten troops. You go back and make a list, and I will personally confer the ten army generals of the Qing Dynasty." Guan Xuqing continued.

"I obey the order," Zuo Zongtang replied.

The Lion Wakes Up Chapter 20 Developing the Economy

After retiring from the imperial court, Guan Xuqing stopped the new Minister of the Household Department, Li Zhen.In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Guan Xuqing sat on a reclining chair with his eyes closed.Slightly sighed.

"My minister Li Zhen kowtowed to the emperor." Li Zhen knelt on the ground.

"Stay flat, sit and talk." Guan Xuqing said with his eyes closed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Zhen sat opposite Guan Xuqing, with his head bowed.

"The household department's errands are done well, and all the province's errands have been saved." Guan Xuqing has been paying attention to Li Zhen's performance in the household department.

"Thank the emperor for the compliment, but I think it's not enough. Otherwise, the emperor won't have to lay off troops because of lack of money." Li Zhen said guiltily.

"Hehe, I didn't abolish them because I want to save a few coins. It's better to keep them than a bunch of dogs, give them guns, and they use them for silver to drink and go shopping in brothels. When the enemy came, they all hid. What use do I need them for this kind of army?" Guan Xuqing stood up suddenly and shouted.

"Emperor Shengming" Li Zhen also stood up.

Guan Xuqing waved his hand, motioned him to sit down, and continued lying on the chair: "I asked Zuo Zongtang to form an army, and I will inevitably ask for money. I want to build the most powerful army in the world. Now our Qing Dynasty has no The ability to make the best guns by yourself can only rely on buying from foreigners.”

"Your Majesty, these foreign guns and cannons cost a lot of money," Li Zhen quickly replied.

"That's why I called you here. Let's do the math together to see if we can get some more out of it." Guan Xuqing narrowed his eyes and continued.

"Li Hongzhang set up a weaving factory in Shanghai a few days ago, and it sold very well. I feel that the people should be encouraged to set up such factories by themselves. After the Opium War, a large number of foreigner's things poured into our Daqing market. Those things are better than ours. The Qing Dynasty was indeed much better, which resulted in the loss of many merchants in the Qing Dynasty. The country had no tax revenue. Now that there are foreigners, I can also make it in the Qing Dynasty. Encourage the people to engage in business, so we don’t have to compete with the people for profit. The Western powers do not use business to enrich the country, but arm themselves with powerful industries, and our Qing Dynasty should do the same. Only when business is prosperous, can our Qing Dynasty’s money come in." Li Zhen said.

"That's right, the road has to be taken step by step. I'll do as you say. But right now the army is being reorganized, and money is needed soon. Now it's not the 500-man Yulin Army I formed at the beginning. It's a 50-man army." Guan Xuqing slowly Said.

"..." Li Zhen was speechless.I cursed in my heart: Even if you let me be greedy again, I have no place to be greedy for so much money.

"Come on, I'll give you an idea." Guan Xuqing opened his eyes and said suddenly.

"Please make it clear, Your Majesty." Li Zhen was also agitated, this little Emperor had the most tricks.

"Encouraging the private sector to set up factories will be implemented immediately, which will not cost the court much money. We will see results next year. In addition, we will immediately establish our own bank in the Qing Dynasty, so that we can collect idle funds from the private sector. We can also issue some treasury bonds for a period of three years. Here The two-point profit, I borrowed from them. When the business is prosperous and the country is rich, I will return it to them." Guan Xuqing said with a smile.

"National debt? Can the common people lend it to us?" Li Zhen asked doubtfully.

"Nowadays there are many bandits, and it's not safe to keep money around. Besides, there are still a lot of rich people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Qing Dynasty. If you give a two-point profit, will they not buy it? In this way, I will give you a lead. This year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will spend Reduce it by half, and buy the national debt with the saved money. I will be your first customer. Then send it to the provinces, and let the officials of the imperial court buy it first. I will take the lead in buying it, and if you don’t believe them, they will not buy it.” Guan Xuqing shook his head and replied .

"Your Majesty is truly a strange man! Such a good strategy is really wonderful, beyond words! Dare I ask you, how much national debt will you issue?" Li Zhen asked.

"Well, there are still about 1000 million taels of silver in the treasury now. At least another 3000 million taels will be issued, and all the purchases will be accepted as ordered." Guan Xu said after liquidating.

"Cha!" Li Zhen replied.

"Qi Zou the emperor, Li Hongzhang asks to see you." Wang Shang came in and said.

"Oh? He's here, tell him to come in." Guan Xuqing said.

"Zha..." Wang Shang got up and backed away.

"The minister avoided it first." Li Zhen said.