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As soon as Ye Bin finished speaking, Shangshu Faji of the Ministry of Punishment also began to complain: "I think what Xu Shangshu and Ye Shangshu said is reasonable.
However, with the current strength of the Han army, it is only a matter of time to win the battle with the Mengluo people. Allocating an additional 20% of the funds for military expenses is just the icing on the cake.
As for what Ye Shangshu said, education is the foundation of the country and cannot be slacked off. I also fully agree with it. However, education cannot achieve results overnight. It requires time to accumulate and accumulate.
However, at present, the various departments of the Ministry of Punishment to which I belong have an imminent problem that urgently needs funds to solve. The Far East Government Office ordered people from the Far East Yamen Bureau to express their complaints to the Ministry of Punishment urgently.
Last year, a large number of officials involved in illegal crimes in Jiangnan were dispatched to the Far East, resulting in overcrowding in various prison camps. In addition, supervision was too difficult. Most of the prison guards were recruited temporarily. There were not many people and there was no time for training. They seriously lacked management experience.
Therefore, fights, bullying, and even nasty things such as Longyang's sleeves being cut off often occurred in the prison. Even the foreign jailers who had surrendered often complained.
I hope that the Ministry of Punishment will dispatch officials with experience in prison management to solve this problem.
In addition, due to the increase in the number of prisoners, the existing prison cells cannot meet the demand. I hope that Your Majesty can consider the difficulties of the Ministry of Punishment and allocate an additional 10% to recruit jailers and expand prison camps. "
When Gong Yanggao, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, heard this, he immediately expressed a different opinion: "What the Minister of Fa said is wrong. The prison camp is the place where lawbreakers are punished.
If the prison environment is reformed according to the words of the Minister of Law, wouldn't it be suspected of indirectly condoning crimes? In my opinion, there is no need to pay attention to these criminal officials who have committed such heinous crimes.
Since the number of jailers is small, they can be directly dispatched from officials from all over the Far East. If that doesn't work, they can also be recruited from the private sector. Including training, it doesn't cost much.
In addition, I learned that the Minister of Law asked the prison guards to work in lieu of punishment. According to calculations, one prison camp can extract at least 200,000 silver dollars in income from this group of labor reformers every year. Ten prison camps in the Far East can only earn 100 silver dollars at a discount. Five hundred thousand silver dollars, right?
This money is enough to cover the various expenses of your Ministry of Punishment. If you still ask for 10% of the funds, the appearance of Fa Shangshu is no better than that of some people. "
When Xu Wenjing heard this, she glared at Gong Yanggao viciously, thinking to herself, this bastard really has no good intentions. He can blame me for this. Let's see how I deal with you in the future.
Fa Ji narrowed his eyes and said: "Serving a prison sentence in labor camp is a rule that His Majesty set before he ascended the throne. Yes, the labor camp does generate a lot of income every year, but the expenses are also huge.
The files need to be sorted out, and the maintenance fees and salaries of various officials and government offices must be paid on time. The Far East is thousands of miles away from Chang'an.
You can’t expect the central government to send silver dollars all the way again, right? In fact, such a small amount of money is simply not enough. Don’t forget,
The law is the foundation for maintaining national stability. If one day the Ministry of Punishment slacks off because it has no money, wouldn't it be like repeating the mistakes of the previous administration? "
This was so exaggerated that not only Xu Wenjing and Gong Yanggao were extremely disdainful, but also Ye Bin and Qin Mo were speechless.
Will your criminal department die because you have no money? And then raise the pattern to the level of the rise and fall of a country?
Why didn't I realize before that Fa Ji, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, is actually such a shameless guy? He really talks nonsense and does anything to get funds from the central government for the Ministry of Punishments.
Qin Mo coughed twice and said to Liu Ce: "Your Majesty, I feel that the issues of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment can be put aside for the time being.
The top priority is to allocate more money to build the Weihe River Dam. I have to report that the Weihe River Dam is in disrepair for a long time and contains many hidden dangers.
Once an accident occurs, millions of people in the lower reaches of the Wei River will be displaced, which will only add a lot of burden to the court.
Taking advantage of the stable waters of the Wei River in the past two years, I plan to raise a sum of funds to build the official road to the Wei River Dam first, so as to facilitate the transportation of materials needed for the construction of the dam.
This will prevent the dam from bursting, secondly, the Weihe River water can be used to irrigate local farmland, and thirdly, road construction will make it easier for people to travel. This will benefit the people in three ways, and I hope your Majesty will approve it. "
Liu Ce nodded and said, "How much money does the household department need?"
In fact, this was strictly a matter for the Ministry of Industry. However, Yang Sicheng was not very capable in this area and could only concentrate on researching new products. After discussion, Qin Mo had to be asked to assist Yang Sicheng in handling the final issues related to government affairs.
As a result, assistance became the main strategy...
Qin Mo said: "Based on the price of one hundred silver dollars for one mile of cement, six hundred miles of official road is 60,000 silver dollars. Dam reinforcement and river dredging materials including transportation will cost 700,000 silver dollars.
In addition, taking into account the food, accommodation and transportation of the workers recruited to repair the dam, as well as the special events that need to be prepared, one million silver dollars are still needed..."
"One million..." Liu Ce pondered, "Is just one million silver dollars really enough?"
Qin Mo said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I have discussed with eighteen large merchants in the city. They are willing to jointly raise funds and donate four million silver dollars to support the Ministry of Household Affairs to build river embankments..."
Liu Ce narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm afraid these businessmen won't be able to afford it early. What did you promise them?"
Qin Mo smiled and said: "Your Majesty is wise, but the conditions they proposed are within a reasonable range. Lanzhixiang, which donated the most money, hopes to open the semicolon to Yongzhou.
He also requested that half of the luxury tax be reduced for the coming year, which I reluctantly agreed to. The requests of the other businesses were also reasonable and legal. "
Liu Ce nodded: "Qin Shangshu, thank you for your hard work."
Qin Mo humbly cupped his hands and said, "This is a matter within the scope of the minister's duty. Your Majesty should not be so ridiculously complimentary."
At this moment, Yang Sicheng suddenly picked up the blueprint of the continuous fire gun, stood up, walked to the center of the main hall, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, please allow us to allocate funds to the Ministry of Industry to develop such a powerful weapon for the country!"
Liu Ce: "Yang Shangshu, please speak slowly. What new inventions have you made recently?"
Yang Sicheng held the drawing and said: "Wei Chen has been thinking these days, if we can invent a repeating fire gun, wouldn't it give our army an advantage against the enemy's cavalry?
After thinking about it for a long time, I came up with this drawing, but there are still many problems that require repeated experiments before it can be finalized. "
"Send it up!"
When Liu Ce heard this, he was also very excited and ordered Wei Dian to get the drawings and observe them carefully.
"Very good! I'm sure!" After just one glance, Liu Ce immediately concluded that this was already the prototype of Gatling, and he immediately made a decision, "Just ask for how much money you need, I will support you in making such a sharp weapon even if I'm trying to sell you! "
Yang Sicheng's nose felt sore, and he cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty supports Wei Chen so much, but Wei Chen is embarrassed to ask for money.
In the previous dynasty, our craftsmen were regarded as a lowly profession. Our ancestors could not go to temples for generations and were looked down upon by others. Those nobles also called the newly invented things by craftsmen as strange skills and ingenuity, and they were just playthings to lose one's ambition.
Since following His Majesty, Wei Chen has never felt more at ease. His Majesty supports Wei Chen so much. Wei Chen is really grateful.
To be honest, this drawing is just a whim of Wei Chen. As for whether it can be realized, Wei Chen is not sure. His Majesty does not need to attach such importance to it.
In case of failure, I am afraid that I will let down His Majesty's holy grace! "
