Beiyang new warlord

This question is too heavy, related to the political dynamics and military trends of the entire late Ming Dynasty, so complicated that even a capable minister like Sun Chuanting would not be able to finish it in a short time. He pondered, and he could only choose a favorable answer.

"Businessmen are greedy, colluding with officials, deceiving their superiors and concealing their inferiors, and corrupting taxes and money"

"This king saw more than that! Daming of the Chongzhen Dynasty was poisoned to death by this silver!"

Pointing to the silver in the trash can, Mao Jue's words were earth-shattering.

Later generations once saw a post on the Internet, the empire that was poisoned to death by silver, Daming! Mao Jue took it very seriously.

Indeed, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the opening of Longqing, the prosperous sea trade allowed two-thirds or even one-half of the silver looted from the Americas by Spain and Portugal to flow into Daming, which made Jiangnan industry and commerce extraordinarily prosperous, but this rich capital accumulation not only failed Pushing Da Ming into a more advanced transformation, on the contrary, dragging Da Ming into the abyss, the reason is because of this money!

To the west, capitalists earn gold and silver, and immediately put them into production, expand production, produce more commodities to earn more money, and this part of capital in their hands flows into workers in the form of wages, raw materials, etc. In the hands of the peasants, workers and peasants circulate this wealth to other capitalists through consumption, which stimulates the desire for production. Money continues to circulate and expand in society, promoting the development of the entire society. This is a virtuous circle.

But Daming?The tradition of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, as well as thrift and thrift, prevented the original capital from the ocean trade from flowing into the society, driving other classes to become rich and expanding domestic demand. Instead, these Jiangnan aristocratic families dug a cellar and hid it, just like Zheng Zhilong, in addition to his fleet, he has an old house in Fuzhou that is comparable to a palace, and his family property of tens of millions of taels of silver. The heavy silver and stones are placed in the warehouse like stones, and they are as useless as stones.

Jiangnan was originally a traditional grain producing area in China. It is known as Suhushu, and the world is full of it. However, with the rise of ocean trade and the astonishing interest stimulation, the big families in Jiangnan have transformed food crops into cash crops one after another, and the towns are amazing. With the rise of speed, the urban population does not produce grain, but consumes it exclusively. In the years of Chongzhen, Suzhou, which has always been a grain-producing area, even needed to go to Huguang to buy grain, which shows the extent of the reduction in grain production.

Moreover, Chongzhen was also unlucky. When he was in power, he happened to catch up with the entire world-level economic crisis. The Little Ice Age not only affected Ming Dynasty, but also Europe. It is the tightening of finances, the sharp decrease in the import of Daming porcelain, raw silk and other goods, which also caused a heavy blow to Jiangnan's industry and commerce.

It’s okay for aristocratic families to keep their money and close their doors, and they are a privileged class who don’t pay taxes, but they can keep their doors behind closed doors. Without their jobs, how will the ordinary people below live?I can't afford to live, so how can I have taxes to donate.

The consistent national policy of the Ming Dynasty was to take silver from the southeast and use it from the northwest. The southeast was cut off, and the land where troops were stationed in the northwest became even more cancerous. Prices soared, food was cut off, and the entire empire collapsed into a silver famine.

Of course, this is not to say that the sea trade is wrong. The empire should be closed like Zhu Yuanzhang. The pace of social development is unstoppable for a small country with few people. How to adjust and digest it depends on the skill of the ruler. .

Mao Jue's magic weapon is consumption. In other words, in the fashionable words of later generations, it is called stimulating domestic demand!

"The construction of the Hangzhou Empire Plaza alone cost 900 million taels of silver, hired 11 workers, each received 3 taels of silver per month, and bought porcelain to support another 900 people, as well as casino security guards, dealers, shop assistants, and shopkeepers. , hotel waiters, created a total of [-] jobs, and more importantly, allowed [-] million taels of silver to bloom among the people!"

"When the people have money, they will buy clothes, buy houses and cultivate cattle and fields. In the process of consumption, they will feed more shops, factories, and shops and factories will have enough money to hand over to the treasury, so that you officials and adults will go Spend and embezzle!”

"Silver is called silver when it flows! Otherwise, it's just a stone. Instead of advocating diligence and thrift like you, my king also advocates extravagance. This is October, and the merchants who went to Nanyang will return with huge sums of money! My king Xiu The use of this imperial city square is also revealed, taking away the silver they were supposed to hoard, and putting it into circulation. Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty be rich, and the people's wealth will make the country strong! My Mao Jue's rule can continue, You stick to the rules like you, stash the money in the treasury to rot, and tie the people to the land, you are the murderers of the empire, Mr. Sun, you don’t understand!”

His mouth was about to come out, his mouth was dry, and Mao Jue yelled at Sun Chuanting all morning. Sun Chuanting was dumbfounded when he heard these economic principles. In the education he received, no sages from any family mentioned it. , but he couldn't refute the vulgar and simple truths Mao Jue said.

Faith collapsed, his eyes were in a daze, and Sun Chuanting sat on the chair in a daze, unable to speak for a long time.

But after pouring a sip of water down his throat to moisten his throat, Mao Jue patted him on the shoulder again.

"My lord Sun, regardless of what the sages say about running a family diligently or governing in a down-to-earth way, the ultimate goal is to lighten the burden on the common people so that the common people can eat enough so that the dynasty can survive. Everything this king has done is to enable the common people to have work and income. In the end, the goal of enriching the people will be achieved, the people will have food and drink, no worries about food and clothing, and the army will be strong and active, unyielding in all battles, no dynasty will perish if they can achieve these two points, Lord Sun, do you think this king is right?"

After bowing heavily, Sun Chuanting turned around and walked away without saying a word. The two of them had been superiors and subordinates for several years now, and they knew his character too well. Mao Jue couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. He waved heavily behind his back.

"Master Sun, on the third floor of Hangzhou Empire Plaza, there are inlaid teeth, ivory imported from Southeast Asia, Tiben King, [-]% off, don't forget!"

As soon as he reached the corridor, Sun Chuanting staggered obviously.

It can be regarded as dismissing him, rubbing his forehead and stretching his waist, and Mao Jue can finally start a day's work. After all, it is Adelaine's good, her confidential secretary has already picked up the memorials from all over the place. Picking it up, he casually opened the first chapter, which was Zhang Canghai's request to keep Wu Sangui in Calcutta as governor.

"Oh! It's actually Wu Sangui!"

If other emperors would have to be afraid of these ambitious heroes, but for Mao Jue, it was just the opposite. He was afraid that the governor-general Xiao Gui Cao Sui, who was going overseas, would not be motivated! Without ambition, how could he How many pieces of meat have been dug out from those big countries?

As for rebellion?Without the support of the Ming Empire, who can stand in the face of tens of thousands of natives who outnumber you?Even if the governor wants to rebel, the people below are unlikely to support it. As for the natives, it is even more impossible to follow you to fight against the mighty Ming Empire! The later British Empire is known as the empire on which the sun never sets, with colonies all over the place, and I have never seen it The governor-general's ambitious rebellion came back, but everyone worked together to scrape the ground and scraped the ground. After reading the memorial, Mao Jue wrote a correct word without hesitation.

This is still not enough, he hesitated for a while, and then Mao Jue continued to write a large line of instructions in a hurry, and then blew the ink in satisfaction.

Mao Jue's subordinates have a clear hierarchy of rights, such as small matters such as disaster relief, which are dealt with by the six cabinet departments that he has delegated power to. There are not many major issues that really need him to deal with. A normal day's work can be completed in about three or four hours. Today, after reviewing more than [-] books, Mao Jue's face turned dark.

Because next, I still made a mistake with Sun Chuanting, all of which were impeached by the censor in the court for his extravagance and extravagance, and many civil officials attacked the East India Company and several railways built by Mao Jue. Some old antiques cried and howled and wrote blood letters to point fingers at themselves, demanding that these railways should be stopped immediately, the East India Company should be disbanded, and they should go back and be obediently a wise gentleman with a normal heart.

"Where did these old antiques come from!"

After reading three books, his cheeks turned red from anger, and Mao Jue rang the bell angrily.

"Check it out for me! Those who submit letters, if they delay their work, will be held accountable! And those who thanked them for their qualifications to submit letters, but sent them through people, increasing the workload of the king, will also be held accountable!"

"Your Majesty obeys!"

Several male and female secretaries who came in from the confidential secretariat nervously took away all the stacks of books, but facing the finally empty desk, Mao Jue was still in a daze.

Sun Chuanting was persuaded to leave by himself, but what about the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty?Come to persuade them one by one?What's more, he is a reasonable person. When he meets that stubborn old antique who takes the dogma of Confucius as the golden rule, it's useless even if he breaks the sky. Kill, otherwise even killing will be useless.

How can we transfer the poverty of these rotten scholars?

Holding his chin, Mao Jue couldn't help thinking

Chapter 641

It's another autumn harvest season. The fertile black soil of Heilongjiang, which has been desolate for thousands of years, is now showing a golden yellow color. However, the fact that people depend on food for the sky cannot be changed no matter what. The tragedy of the commercialization of the Ming Dynasty can be vividly remembered. When the East India Company was engaged in maritime trade in the south of the Yangtze River, the northern granary, whenever he Never relaxed.

And as Mao Jue entered the customs, there was a wave of rapid development here. First, the descendants under Li Zicheng's command had one hundred acres per person, and then Mao Jue confiscated many nobles and eunuchs in the capital. I heard that there is cheap land in the north, and there is no restriction on mergers. They also took their belongings and servants and boarded the train from the capital to Acheng, and Henan. It is a pity that last year was still a year of great famine, and the Ming government has been sluggish for many years. The government has let the water conservancy in this over-developed land of Zhongzhou fall into disrepair. Floods and droughts have come together, and the investment in water conservancy is too large.

For this part of the refugees, Mao Jue was also lazy. The local government directly encouraged them to go out to work, and even reimbursed their train tickets. China Tent still has hundreds of thousands of aspiring young people "actively" participating in the construction of the Great Northern Wilderness.

It's just that after they have a house and land there, whether they will come back to plow the few acres of Susukida to make ends meet, or whether they will come back to visit relatives and leave, that's uncertain.

The "sage kings" in history, Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and other emperors of the Qing Dynasty foolishly sealed the border with wicker and prohibited the Central Plains from going northward for reclamation. Mao Xiong picked up a big bargain, almost at the same latitude as Canada. God bestowed a large piece of uncultivated virgin land in China and finally named Russia. Finally, he had this opportunity, and Mao Jue would not let it miss him again.

Along with the bumper harvest is Shandong, which has always been a province with large agriculture and population. In spite of the wars in normal years, even if the densely populated Lianghuai and Huaihe Rivers are seized, the population under Mao Jue’s control in the north is only a little over 5000 million, and the agricultural products of the two provinces Enough to ensure the normal food supply of the ten northern provinces, and even with the food, Wen Meng, who was stationed in Hanzhong, started a slave business with Zhang Xianzhong, who was entrenched in Sichuan. Two stones of grain are a middle-aged man, and one stone and a half is a young woman or child, 50 years old. The above-mentioned old men are half stones, and those with special talents such as craftsmen, scholars or women with outstanding looks will directly give silver.

Anyway, the Daxi King didn't like the people under his command, so he killed them at every turn. Mao Jue's business gave him a new way out, selling people and earning military pay and rations, how wonderful!

Under this kind of trade, the tense military confrontation in the Hanzhong area has also eased up. The dense population in central Sichuan was strung together with ropes by Lao Shan’s Daxi Army like livestock. In the hands of Meng's Gansan Corps, similarly, the grain transported by the Nine-Border Railway that was repaired desperately last year and the silver from the southeast were carried to the Land of Abundance one by one.

"Happy cooperation!"

The top sergeants of the two regimes in Hanzhong, Wen Meng and Bai Wenxuan, shook hands with each other heavily, but with smiles on their faces, the two senior officers burst out two words in their hearts at the same time.

stupid guy!

Zhang Xianzhong's rule in central Sichuan has always been unstable. The big clans in central Sichuan are constantly resisting, and the people of Sichuan do not recognize refugees. This is one of the reasons why he killed them indiscriminately in Sichuan. He sold them in exchange for valuable military rations and salaries. , The vacated land happened to be cultivated by the exiles of the old Shaanxi Army. As for the Sichuan people's family property, it was divided up by the generals of the Great Western Army, killing three birds with one stone.

As for the Northern Ming Dynasty, the history of Shaanxi Huguang filling Sichuan was just the opposite. These small Sichuanese came to Shaanxi crying and were immediately packed and divided, and part of it was filled in the deserted land in Guanzhongping near Xi'an due to the war. , and most of the rest are invested in the construction of the third railway in Xu, Zheng, Luo, Tong, Xi'an, and Gansu.

Moreover, Wen Meng also reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs, specifically requesting that a separate line be drawn from Xi'an to Hanzhong.

Another part was absorbed into Beiming's frontier defense forces. Don't underestimate the short Sichuan people. In the cruel war of resistance in later generations, the Sichuan army almost played the role of the mainstay. In the 12 years of the war of resistance, 350 million Sichuan people set foot on On the battlefield, 64 people died in battle, and almost all parts of the country were soaked in their blood. There must be one Sichuanese in every five or six soldiers.

These citizens of the Land of Abundance have a strange love for life, and at the same time, they are extraordinarily strong and stubborn in their bones. They shoulder the entire northwest frontier defense. Meng still approved the establishment of six corps of the Sichuan Army, and these troops will be the mainstay when they enter Sichuan in the future.

More importantly, what Zhang Xianzhong didn't know was that he also helped Mao Jue get rid of his confidant's big trouble. The local government that could not form the "underworld forces" and the future Mao Jue confronted each other.

Zhang Xianzhong has won now and lost the future, so after all, Wen Meng is right, he is an idiot!

Mao Jue's development of Heilongjiang's black land granary not only changed the direction of agriculture in the north and south, but also had a particularly large impact on the politics of several Northeast Asian countries in terms of brokerage.

There are no harvesters these days, and extensive farming can be used for farming, but harvesting requires you to bend down and cut with a knife. The 300 million hectares of arable land at this time only have a population of more than 400 million, and many of them are soldiers. Liaodong harvested it by itself, but it was absolutely impossible to harvest it, so Fan Wenju, who guarded the north, signed an agreement with Lee's North Korea and Wa Kingdom. Come north by boat to dry harvest.