The 4 million taels of cash deported by Lotte Bank to Beijing this time really solved the court's urgent need. The 10 million taels of military expenditures approved for Zuo Zongtang at the beginning of the year were cleared out by the court. , and then asked the local government to help them get five million taels.
The imperial court could only ask Zuo Zongtang to raise the remaining five million by himself. How could he raise it himself? He could only use Hu Xueyan's connections to go to the Jiangnan business district to exchange money and borrow money from foreign banks.
Historically, most of Zuo Zongtang's military expenditures were withdrawn from the provincial salary bureaus and foreign banks in Shanghai. Historically, the entire military expenditure of Pingbei Northwest was not 10 million taels, but 40 million taels.
Funds for quelling the Gansu-Shaanxi Hui tribe rebellion and local reconstruction have been included here, and even the freight required for transporting materials to the northwest has been included.
Among the 40 million taels of silver, the provinces paid a total of 20 million taels, borrowed money from foreigners for more than 8 million taels, domestic businessmen borrowed more than 5.6 million taels, and the army raised 4 million taels for its own military expenses. How much money did the court give? As for the money, it was only 4.55 million taels, and it was claimed to be 5 million taels.
Take a look, this court can't even get a round number, which shows that it has really drained away all its treasury.
If the Ministry of Household Affairs has no money, it cannot pay salaries to court officials, let alone provide funds for the normal operation of the six ministries. Except for the prime minister's office, which still has some live money, the other government offices have already set up pots and drank gruel. .
Why has the training of the new army under the command of Prince Gong been ineffective until now? On the one hand, it is difficult to train the Eight Banners uncles, and on the other hand, it is also because of the lack of money. So far, the training camp has only conducted three target training sessions. The guns are provided, but the cost of bullets and military uniforms have not yet been paid.
Four million taels of cash had just arrived at the Ministry of Household Affairs. After discussion with several princes of the Qing Dynasty and the Queen Mother of the two palaces, 2 million taels of silver coins were all allocated to the new army training camp without even informing the Han officials. .
The Qing Dynasty was in turmoil and troubled times. Without a reliable army in hand, I am afraid that the Manchu nobles in the Forty-Nine Cities would not be able to sleep.
What is more important than training the new army is the salary of hundreds of officials. The imperial court is in arrears too much. It is obvious to all that the officials in the capital at the feet of the emperor are poor. Not all officials have bribes to take. Bingtanjing also has to be four. Only high-ranking officials with grades and above are eligible for a share of the profits.
What to do with the thousands of officials below the fourth rank who are left? Instead of tightening their belts and struggling, they are even reduced to pawn jewelry and borrowing loan sharks.
This time, the senior officials of the Six Ministries were extremely anxious. They wrote a rare collective petition and even put pressure on the imperial court. If they do not give additional salary to the officials working below, then the Six Ministries will collectively hang up their posts. We are on strike collectively and will not play with the imperial court. .
It was under the collective pressure of the six senior officials that the imperial court quickly made a decision. Officials above the fourth rank would receive less, and each person would be given a hundred silver coins first, which meant that the poor officials below the fourth rank would receive preferential treatment. Some.
Officials of the fifth grade will be reissued with 200 dragon-patterned silver coins, officials of the sixth grade will be reissued with 150 coins, and officials of the seventh grade will be reissued with 100 coins. The remaining staff of various ministries and non-grade personnel will be reissued with 70, 50, and 30 coins respectively according to the nature of their work. Salary in silver coins.
The proportion of banner pay reissued to Eight Banners disciples is almost the same as that of court officials.
Don't underestimate these hundreds of silver coins. Even if you pay at least 30 silver coins, it is equivalent to two lines of silver. Of course, this money is not enough to sell a house, land and concubine, but it is enough for a family of four or five to live. Been eating it for a year.
What's more, as long as you reach the seventh-grade official rank, one hundred silver coins is 77 taels of silver. Renting a small courtyard house in Beijing for a year only costs 30 to 40 taels of silver. If you have the remaining silver, you can buy red pickled soybeans in snow and go with it. The white rice served is enough for their family for a year.
This was originally a good thing that everyone was happy with, but it was ruined in the hands of these ignorant and short-sighted people. Being messed up by those half-disabled men of the Eight Banners and useless officials with different economies, the crowd suddenly became restless, and people even raised their hands. The 'waste paper' on it was torn into pieces.
Not to mention, this paper is really strong, and it feels very good when you tear it, and it even feels like tearing cloth.
The heads of the household department who distributed the money were also mad. They asked soldiers to guard the cash box and stood on chairs to explain to these big men, but no one would listen to him. Some even flew over with broken shoes and hit them directly. Things happen on his lips.
"Okay, okay...just tear it up, tear it all up. It's your own money that you're tearing up anyway. Just don't regret it when the time comes."
"Protect the money box, our household department can't have less money. As for them ripping off their own salaries, I can't control it..."
These words only added fuel to the fire. Those officials who were dizzy with anger yelled, "Tear it apart, you are using the white slip as a treasure, who are you trying to deceive? This life is really impossible, this official is really not good anymore." .”
In the midst of the chaos, Minister Lin of the Ministry of Revenue hurried back from the palace. The four bearers were sweating all the way.
"Stop, you are crazy. Who told you to besiege the Hubu Yamen? Why did you tear up all the money?"
"Mr. Lin, we regard you as a loyal elder, but you deceive us like this. How can you use white notes as salary to pay down? You are too bullying..."
Lin Shangshu's eyes kept getting dark with anger, and he kept asking, "How did it get like this? Why did the officials come directly to the household department to collect the money? Why didn't they sort it and send it to various yamen? I don't know how many people talk. Will something happen?"
"My lord, you don't know. After you entered the palace in the morning, many well-informed officials blocked the door early and called them all to collect money... We think these colleagues are poor enough. , there must be many creditors chasing after you..."
"I feel pity for them. Everything started to be distributed... As a result, more and more people were tricked. In the end, some people still made trouble. They didn't want these Ryukyu bonds..."
Lao Lin slapped his thigh angrily, "I just told you to wait a few days, wait a few days, let the wind blow, and then start again, but you just didn't listen, and something will happen now."
Just when Lao Lin was about to faint from anxiety, several fast horses came from the east side of the avenue. The first one was the deputy minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Yamen, Fu Qing and Qing Sanye.
"Stop, pass the prince's order, everyone should retreat quickly... go back to their respective yamen, are you no longer afraid of the king's law?"
When people saw Mr. Qing coming, they were like a ladle of cold water poured into a hot oil pan. The crowd immediately exploded, "Fu Qing... you bastard, send your own sister to Xiao Letian's bed to change." Fugui, if you go back and follow Xiao Letian to humiliate the imperial court, I will beat you..."
With a whoosh, a broken shoe went straight to Fu Qing's door.
Note: The first update is delivered today, and there will be another update in a while. Please search for '17k Chinese website' online and watch "The Hidden Dragon of the Qing Dynasty" here to help Xinjing. This is the genuine version. Thank you.
