Chongzhen looked at the report from the Ministry of Revenue and was very satisfied. Ming Dynasty's currency income finally increased from just over four million to six million taels of silver. In the past two years, more than 200,000 troops have been abolished, which has greatly reduced the financial burden.
Now the military expenditure of the Liaodong and Guanning armies is the largest expenditure, one million taels a year.
However, before Liaodong was recovered and Jiannu was not completely eliminated, he did not dare to disband the Guan Ning Army.
After Jin Yiwei Xiaowei read the major events that happened in the country yesterday, a memorial from the Inspectorate attracted Chongzhen's attention. There was a censor who exposed the imperial examination fraud in the Wanli Dynasty.
Chongzhen was a little confused. Now he had passed the Taichang and Tianqi dynasties away from the Wanli dynasty. Why are there still people making such nonsense about old sesame seeds and rotten millet?
He looked carefully and found that it was the department involved in this matter, and several of them were now important officials of the imperial court. This made him immediately alert. This matter is not simple.
At the end of the memorial, the censor named and impeached Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, for violating regulations in the provincial examination. He was born and lived in Dongguan, and his household registration was also in Dongguan. However, he pretended to be a registered citizen and went to his ancestral home, Teng County, Guangxi, to take the exam.
The imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was the same as the university entrance examination in later generations. Some provinces are big on college entrance exams. If you go to Shandong and Henan and try it, they will make you cry every minute. Some municipalities go to key local universities and their scores are very low. The non-key points in Shandong may be Shangbeiqing.
Therefore, many people, in order to reduce the difficulty, have taken the curve and went to municipalities or border areas to take the exam. The most psychedelic thing is to send children away from elementary school, such as the country of three islands. You can get your nationality after graduating from high school and come back as an international student. Admission to top universities is free of entrance exams.
There were many such things in the Ming Dynasty. After all, the imperial examination was too difficult.
Seeing the fraud involving Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen fell into deep thought.
Yuan Chonghuan is now the most powerful official in the Ming Dynasty besides the emperor. He is also the frontier official in charge of the most combat-effective army, the largest financial expenditure, and the most officials in charge.
There is nothing trivial about him. Although this impeachment is only exposing the affairs of the Wanli Dynasty, it finally brought up the matter of Yuan Chonghuan taking the exam while impersonating his nationality. However, Chongzhen knew that this was a temptation. Who knows what explosive news these people have yet to reveal.
Chongzhen hated party strife, but in this situation, he could only find out who was causing trouble. What do they want to do?
After Chongzhen discovered Zhu Pi's examination fraud case, it attracted the attention of both the government and the public. Because the exam in question has produced many high-ranking officials. Especially Yuan Chonghuan.
In the governor's office in Ningyuan, Yuan Chonghuan was looking out the window with his hands behind his back.
Autumn in Liaodong has begun to get cold. The leaves have fallen under several autumn rains. There are only a few leaves, still hanging stubbornly on the branches. Swaying in the cold wind and rain.
He Kegang is in charge of the Chinese Army. He is the deputy general of the Chinese Army, which is also the deputy commander-in-chief.
Intelligence, staff and other work are generally done by the Chinese military. He is equivalent to Yuan Chonghuan's chief of staff. He read the news from the capital with an expressionless face. Especially the news about the imperial examination fraud case.
Yuan Chonghuan's face was gloomy and he remained silent without saying a word.
This matter can be big or small. If it gets serious, it can ruin his reputation. The imperial examination is not a trivial matter. His current status is all obtained through the imperial examination. The imperial examination was one of the few good governance systems in the Ming Dynasty that had the lowest level of fairness.
If you stumble on this matter, not only will your face be lost. The official position cannot be maintained either.
He knew that these things were directed at him. He had to take action before the situation worsened. Because someone is watching.
"Master He, don't you have anything to say to the headquarters?" Yuan Chonghuan said coldly.
"If Wenlong is born, the country will be unlucky; if Wenlong is used, the court will be unlucky; if Wenlong is killed, the prince will be unlucky." He Kegang lowered his head and said.
In fact, it's just that Mao Wenlong is here and Dong Lin is unlucky. Not only did he become a source of wealth, but he also interfered with their efforts to negotiate peace. More importantly, Mao Wenlong, an old eunuch, was the last member of Concubine Zheng's line to hold military power.
Yuan Chonghuan smiled bitterly, He Kegang was also a sensible person. He chanted in a low voice:
"Forty years have passed since I was half-lived, and my vision is only separated by trees and the world of mortals.
Now that I am in the land of the Sky King, I have learned to kill more people than before. "
If you have to choose, you can only regret one person.
The imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were full of shady secrets and could not withstand the digging.
Tang Bohu suffered a disaster back then, and there were few clean people here. From candidates to teachers and examiners. Every Jinshi is the result of a multi-party game. Because the imperial examination is connected to the officialdom and is the ticket to the officialdom. It is the source of officials.
Therefore, the division of Jinshi was a focus of struggle among the various factions in the court.
Yuan Chonghuan sighed. Once he entered the court, it was as deep as the sea, and he was helpless in everything.
"You forced me to do this," Yuan Chonghuan said to the tree in the courtyard: "If I lose, none of you can win."
He Kegang lowered his head and stopped talking, as if he didn't hear him. His face was expressionless, just looking at Yuan Chonghuan's somewhat stooped back. It seemed that at this moment, he was much older.
This is a struggle from above, and it is not something he can comment on. He could only remain silent.
All he can do is act according to the instructions above.
"Instructions, starting tomorrow, the Longhu Navy will conduct a half-month maritime training. Three thousand officers and soldiers from the Jiliao Governor's personal barracks will go to sea by boat and accompany the headquarters to inspect the major islands in Liaodong, coastal towns, generals, and The island is on guard and will be ready to receive you in the near future.”
Yang Fan was currently in the newly dug swimming pool at home. Study the sand carefully.
By the end of this year, the railway will be able to reach Jiuyuan City. Linhe City will be open to traffic by the middle of next year. In this way, the front and back sets will be connected to Beizhili by railway. Large-scale development of front and rear materials and recruitment of refugees for settlement can also be transported in large quantities by railway.
The railway is planned to be built to Alxa later on. Go to Juyanhai City.
Going west from Linhe City, you have to cross three deserts and a Gobi. Although they all traverse the vertical desert, each of which is only a few dozen kilometers, building roads in the desert is a difficult problem, especially for railways.
Yang Fan found a lot of information on the Internet. Because in later generations, there was a desert highway here, passing through here and taking a straight line to Urumqi.
Yang Fan read the information and found out that it is not difficult to build roads in the desert.
The specific method is to drill wells to extract groundwater. Use steam engine bulldozers to level the desert. Then sprinkle water and press it with a road roller. Fill it with sand, sprinkle it with water, and press it with a road roller. Until the road bed is made higher than the road surface.
The water holds the sand together tightly, creating a stable road base even when it dries. Just pour cement directly on top of the road surface, and finally lay it with asphalt, and it's ready.
This is not difficult at all. Because Yang Fan already has construction machinery.
There are steam engine bulldozers and road rollers. There are also well-drilling equipment, trucks for transporting water, and steam trucks that Yang Fan hopes to buy. One truck is enough to transport six tons of water.
There are Populus euphratica forests near these deserts and the Gobi. There is underground water under the desert, and the fuel and water for steam engines are guaranteed. Totally achievable.
Now, cement can be produced locally. Special numbers can also be sent. A lot of bitumen has also been accumulated. This year, more than 300 new oil wells have been put into operation in Dagang Oilfield. Daming Petrochemical also established a small refining base at the location of later Huanghua Port. Asphalt has piled up.
After all, this is the era. Refining technology is backward. After crude oil is refined into gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and fuel oil, the remaining half is asphalt.
While building roads is not a problem, there is a big problem. That's wind and sand.
The desert here is mobile, flowing due to wind and sand. The flow of the desert will cover roads and railways. We must find a way to fix the sand. It is even necessary to build a green belt on both sides of the highway and railway to block the wind and sand.
