Yes, Chang Yu couldn't help but cursed in his heart. As the old saying goes, it's hard for a clever woman to make a living without rice. The Central Plains is full of wealthy households, and most of them are vassal fiefs. He can get a few bites of food with a bowl, but this north is full of bitter cold. Not to mention that there were no vassal kings, there were not many wealthy households, and there was no place to beg for alms.
But seeing that Chongzhen was determined to be the hands-off shopkeeper, it would be futile to continue talking, but it made him unhappy, so Chang Yu simply acquiesced and remained silent.
"Have you been thinking about a strategy to retreat from the enemy in the past few days?" Chongzhen felt a little embarrassed and immediately changed the topic.
"No, but I am confident that I can stop the enemy from moving south!"
Chang Yu vowed, and Chongzhen sighed in his heart, but he had nothing to say. He only prayed that the blessed general could give him another surprise. To be honest, he had great expectations and confidence in Chang Yu. After all, he had the merits of his former teacher and went there in the first place When we were in Taiyuan, we didn't expect that he could make such a big noise and raise such a big flag. Otherwise, he would not be transferred to the northern front line at this time.
"If you have any needs, just ask. I will do my best to help you. As long as you can fight back or block the Qing Gou, it will be a great achievement!" Chongzhen said proudly, patting his chest.
But give it up, Chang Yu secretly curled his lips, asking for money, food, and soldiers, so what kind of help could he give? Allocate some men and horses to the ministers in the capital camp, even a small amount will do, the troops in the north are really too thin."
The Beijing camp should not be moved. Chongzhen had emphasized it long ago, but he seemed to feel a little embarrassed to keep rejecting Chang Yu today. He reluctantly said: "How many people do you want? You know the importance of the Beijing camp. If there are more, I won't give you. If there are less, I won't give it to you." It’s just a drop in the bucket and it doesn’t work.”
When Chang Yu heard this, he said, hey, there's a show, and he immediately became energetic: "Your Majesty, it's not about having too many soldiers, it's about being good. I only need one battalion of Shenji Battalion."
The Beijing camp is also called the three major camps, which are divided into five military camps, three thousand camps and Shenji camp. The fifth military battalion is the largest battalion, including the 12th battalion of officers and soldiers accompanying the cavalry, with a normal strength of more than 100,000 troops.
The Three Thousand Battalion was a cavalry force. Initially, there were three thousand cavalrymen composed of soldiers surrendered outside the Great Wall. Although the number was small, it was indeed the most powerful cavalry force under Zhu Di at that time. It later developed and grew, reaching more than 70,000 at its peak.
The Shenji Battalion is a specialized firepower unit and the world's first professional special forces unit. It was called the Firearms Battalion after the Qing Dynasty. The regular structure of the Shenji Battalion is about 5,000 people, about 3,500 infantry, each equipped with a gun, 1,000 cavalry, and about 500 artillery. In terms of strength, it is the smallest of the three battalions, but its power is the most powerful.
Now Chang Yu wants this five thousand troops to guard the border with him.
"Are you going to use artillery to fight off the enemy like Yuan Chonghuan did in Ningyuan? But now I heard that the power of Qinggou's artillery is no worse than ours. I'm afraid..." Chongzhen frowned.
"Maybe it can be used as a backup. With such a strong army, the ministers will have the confidence to respond to the battle. Can your Majesty be sure?" Chang Yu was noncommittal.
At this time, Chongzhen was in trouble: "Now that you have mentioned it, I should have agreed to it, but it is not up to me alone to mobilize the Beijing troops to go out to participate in the war. First, the cabinet must pass, and once the opening is opened, only Shi Kefa from the Ministry of Terrorism also followed the same example." He said with a long sigh: "I will discuss this matter with the cabinet early tomorrow morning. How about I get back to you as soon as possible?"
Chang Yu nodded, still somewhat confident. The chief minister of the cabinet is Li Banghua, and the governor of the capital is Wang Jiayan. These two are absolutely loyal ministers, and they are definitely not the kind of stuff like Chen Yan, Wei Dezao, and Li Jiantai who eat together. Waiting to die.
These two people are definitely people who do practical things. When the country is in crisis, they will definitely not stick to the rules. What's more, these few people have good relations with the prince, especially Li Banghua's favorite disciple Li Mingrui or Zuo Zhongyun of the East Palace. Historically, Li Banghua suggested that Nan Qian asked Li Mingrui to find out about Chongzhen, but this time their promotion was also recommended by the prince and Gong Yonggu.
So with this relationship in mind, Chang Yu feels that the success rate is very high.
"Your Majesty, I have another plan to enrich the treasury." Chang Yu suddenly changed the subject.
Chongzhen was immediately overjoyed: "What's the plan? Tell me and listen."
"Tea tax, commercial tax," Chang Yu said solemnly, staring at Chongzhen.
Chongzhen suddenly felt disappointed, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Are you imitating Wei Zhongxian? I'm afraid that you will end up being angry again. This method won't work."
"No, I think it's feasible!" Chang Yu was resolute. Wei Zhongxian collected a tea tax during the Tianqi period and brought a huge amount of money to the royal family every year. However, this also became the focus of the firepower of the Donglin Party and the civil service group. He thought it was : There were widespread complaints about "competing with the people for profit" until Chongzhen abolished it after he came to power (some say it was not abolished, but it could not be recovered)
"How can it be done? You are not afraid of them scolding you or forcing me to kill you, but I don't want to lose face for this little money and be punished again and again!" Chongzhen snorted with a dark face, but of course he I thought about it too, otherwise why would I regret killing Wei Zhongxian so much.
"The tea tax levied by Wei Zhongxian at that time was: Stool base back S hairpin ⑽ ⒁ Huang Φ feed
"Oh, you mean to put it into the national treasury!" Chongzhen's face softened slightly, but his tone seemed a little disappointed, but he was obviously moved: "It seems feasible, but what about the so-called commercial tax?"
"Business taxes are too low." Chang Yu smiled bitterly. Although merchants had a lower status than farmers in ancient times, it is undeniable that their wealth is incomparable to farmers. However, what is ridiculous is that farmers' taxes are much higher than those of businessmen. In the Ming Dynasty, agricultural taxes accounted for 75% or even higher of the country's total tax revenue, while commercial taxes have not changed since Lao Zhu established the Ming Dynasty. Order Theory". Look, overcharging is illegal.
"You mean..." Chongzhen frowned.
"Reduce agricultural taxes and raise commercial taxes." Chang Yu said firmly: "The world is in chaos and the people are in dire straits. This is caused by natural disasters and wars. But excessively high agricultural taxes will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire. People will have no livelihood. More people are willing to follow the thieves in rebellion... …If the emperor wants to pacify the world, suppressing bandits is one of the key measures. Reducing agricultural taxes is also a key means. First, it can calm the people's hearts, and second, it can allow the people to resume production... Looking back at the merchants, who is not making a lot of money..."
Chang Yu kept talking, and Chongzhen kept listening quietly, his face changing from time to time, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning...
The monarch and his ministers chatted in Qianqing Palace until late at night, before Chang Yu resigned from the palace.
The chill was at its strongest at this time, and he couldn't help but shiver several times as he just came out of the greenhouse. He hurried out of the Qianqing Gate with his neck scrunched up, and then glanced at the guard duty room in front of the palace gate, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. He turned his head and walked towards the East Palace.
Tang Potian was on duty in the East Palace and was always excited. He kept showing off to several colleagues. The governor of the East Palace invited him to have fun in the evening and go to a boxing match to have fun. He wanted to make a lot of money...
Outside Dong'an Gate, Tang Potian shrank his neck with a bitter look on his face. He glanced at the carriage beside him and muttered in his heart, didn't he agree to take someone to have fun, why did he become a bodyguard?
It wasn't until he arrived in a secret room in the Dongchang Yamen and listened to Wu Mengming chatting with a few strange men for a long time that he suddenly realized that he couldn't help but look at Chang Yu next to him gratefully. This was serious fun. This little guy The eunuch is really loyal, and he doesn't forget to support him for such a good thing.
The strange men are Jiang Yiping, Fang Ba and Song Siyang. The three of them are here to report to Chang Yu. They are also here to meet two new shareholders. One is the leader of Jin Yiwei and the other is the emperor's personal guard. Mr. Qian.
These two shareholders are both powerful people, and the amount of money is secondary. With these two people taking shares, the transaction will only be smoother. Of course, the difficulties currently faced are also extraordinary.
Although 30,000 shi of food is not a small amount, it can be scraped together, and the manpower problem can be solved easily. After all, there are a large number of refugees in the capital. Just give a shout and they will be there immediately. The difficulty is to solve the problem of vehicles, mules, horses and other material resources in a short time. , after all, there was no preparation before, so everyone was really having a headache in such a hurry.
However, Chang Yu asked them to expand their business to other places as quickly as possible. Now they have just begun to take over part of the court's business. The food reserves in the capital can still cope with it. If they take over the whole business in time, they will naturally have to take over all aspects of the business across the country. Get up and running.
At this time, there are three top priorities to start branching out immediately. One is Jiangnan, which is a major grain-producing province, and a procurement reserve and transfer base must be established. The second is Taiyuan, an area prone to war disasters, and the third is Zhangjiakou, a foreign trade zone. .
Finally, Chang Yu added another sentence: To leave Beijing tomorrow, at least 5,000 shi of military rations will be needed, but any grains will do.
Jiang Yiping and others suddenly felt their heads grow heavy.
