Chapter 193 Li Hongzhang discusses coastal defense (4)
4. One piece of payment for the original music. It is well known that finances have been extremely tight recently. If you want to cheer up, you must unify the overall situation of the world, coordinate everything, and then make a plan.
The cities in Xinjiang have been restored to the territory since the Qianlong period. No matter how difficult it is to open up, even if there is no trouble, the annual military expenditure is more than 3 million, which only takes thousands of miles of open land and adds thousands of years of trouble. not worth. Furthermore, it is bordered by Russia to the north, Turkey, Tianfang, and Persia to the west, and British India to the south. It is powerful from the outside and invaded from the inside. It has been in a different situation in the past and present, and even if it tries to recover, it will never be able to defend it for a long time in the future. Judging from the situation, Russia will encroach first, and Britain will share its benefits. Neither of them wants China to succeed in the West. In terms of China's current strength, it is really not as good as focusing on the Western Regions.
Before Zeng Guofan, there was a proposal to temporarily abandon the customs foreign experts to clear the customs, which was almost an old idea of contemplating the country. Although the generals have been ordered to move out now, the troops and pay cannot capture them. Can you secretly instruct the commanders of the West Route to strictly guard the existing borders and cultivate the land without rushing into progress? On the one hand, he appeased the Yili, Urumqi, Kashgar and other Anni chiefs and allowed them to become their own tribes. Such as the seedlings from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Shu, and the Yao chieftains.
Some ministers secretly believe that if both countries exist, both sides will benefit. Russia and Britain will avoid annexation by their own ambitions, and China will not have to repeatedly use its troops. This seems to be a long-term solution. If Xinjiang is not restored, the vitality of the limbs will not be harmed; if the sea frontier is not guarded, the serious troubles in the heart and heart will become more and more difficult. There must be someone who can distinguish which is more serious and which is less serious.
If this discussion is resolved, it seems that the troops that have left the fortress and those that have not yet left the fortress must be slightly increased or reduced. They can withdraw if they can, and stop if they can. The pay for their suspension and withdrawal will be used as the pay for coastal defense. Otherwise, with only this financial resources, not only the maritime territory of thousands of miles to the southeast, but also the salary and transportation of thousands of miles to the northwest, there will be no one who is impoverished.
At this time, the launch of coastal defense involves purchasing ships, training troops, and simplifying weapons, which requires at least more than 10,000 taels of funds. In August of this year, the Ministry of Household Affairs reported to Wen Hsiang that the salary needs to be reduced, and proposed to suspend the non-urgent needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the coastal defense items were still unavailable. Therefore, the provinces were ordered to make various deposits first and then defer urgently to offset the defense costs. After looking at the amount of expenditures and allocations in each province, compared with the amount of annual income, they were all over the amount several times. What more can be saved and borrowed?
As a last resort, we should still follow the Prime Minister's Yamen's report in the fifth year of Tongzhi's reign, with a special allocation of 40% of the tariff deposited by the Ministry and each customs, which is needed for the current start-up. In addition to the 40% of Tianjin Customs that belongs to the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, Jiangsu Customs has 20% of the 40%. The remaining 40% from the Shandong and Jianghan Passes were allocated to pay for the troops and the Huai Army, and the Tamsui Pass was reserved for military supplies for Taiwan defense. There is no doubt that the remaining 40% were allocated to the other customs. Forty percent of the customs and ministry treasury has been deposited over the years, and should be allocated by the Prime Minister's Yamen and the Coast Guard Commander-in-Chief through consultation.
After that, all customs were ordered to seal up separate funds and report for release directly. The province was not allowed to borrow or retain it, and there was no need to release the money from the ministry treasury, which caused many twists and turns. This item can earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year, and the ministry treasury will keep more than 300 yuan. Ten thousand. If there is insufficient, it is planned to temporarily borrow foreign money, which will be repaid under the continued 40% tariff collection to meet urgent needs. The interest rate of the silver is seven or eight cents, and the return of the money is ten years or eight years. This is a common thing in all countries, and there is no need to worry about it.
As for long-term expenses in the future, we should seek to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Nowadays, in addition to the official tax collection in Ding Cao, there are two additional lijin and donations. We have tried every means to find it, but it is still not enough. There is not much gained from donating and losing, and the disadvantages are huge. On the other hand, gold in the mainland is covered by half-tax, such as copper, iron, woolen cloth, foreign cloth, etc., which are all related to people's daily needs. Foreign ships transfer quickly, and only half-tax is paid, so the unscrupulous people take all the responsibility for fraud. Bulk goods are exempted from the tax, because the tax is included in the peace treaty and cannot be negotiated. As a result, the importance of each other is very different, and the merchants and the people are in trouble.
Ding Richang planned to set up factories to build farming and weaving machines, and Zeng Guofan and his ministers repeatedly asked for the establishment of media, iron ore mines, and trials of merchant ships, all for the purpose of developing livelihoods in the mainland. It can neither prevent the foreign goods from coming nor prevent the Chinese people from using them. British cloth shipped to China sells for more than 30 million yuan in silver every year, and copper, iron, lead, and tin sell for millions of silver, which deprives the Chinese female redsmiths of a lot of profits.
How can we also assume that machines are manufactured by themselves, and ships and railways are transported by themselves, but the essence of the goods is consistent with them. That product comes from across the ocean and cannot be compared with what is produced in the mainland. If my interests are prosperous, my interests will be diminished, which is not only beneficial to my salary.
The mountains in various provinces are rich in hardware, cinnabar, mercury, and coal. China has not been able to open it for thousands of years. If it is opened occasionally, it cannot find the tools and methods. It is always worried about the national power being exhausted. How can this be different from having a treasure house that cannot be sealed? I sit down and feel hungry and cold.
Western geologists look at the rocks and soil in the mountains and know what minerals are in them. I thought it would be advisable to hire several people from this generation to go around and inspect everything, record their properties, and select the ones with the most profit to open in order. All imitating Western methods, either raising and borrowing capital from the government, or persuading wealthy businessmen from far and near to pool their shares to form a company. If the amount is opened, one or two cents will be given to the government as appropriate. The results will be achieved in ten years.
The ministers approached the Cizhou Mountains in the southern border of Zhili to discuss the opening of a second coal and iron mine. They ordered the members of the Tianjin and Shanghai Machinery Bureau to purchase foreign wares and hire foreign craftsmen to advocate for them. This was not only necessary for the casting of weapons, but also to gradually open up the trend to benefit. Also for civilian use.
In view of the failure of the Ming Dynasty, modern scholars regard mining as a bad policy. They do not know that the disadvantage lies in the employment of people, and that it cannot be opened unless it is a mine. The ignorant gentry and the people are confused about destroying Feng Shui, and the useless officials are afraid that they will gather people and cause trouble, which is especially unreasonable talk. It is clear that all the countries in the East and West are engaged in mining, so why are they the only ones not suffering from this disease? And everyone will become rich and powerful through this.
If all the areas along the rivers and seas of the southern province can find ways to develop matchmaking iron for shipbuilding, there will be no need to purchase and transport it overseas, and other benefits can be found. Ships can be maintained and troops can be trained. This will be a great benefit to the military.
As for the foreign medicines that were poisoning China, an edict was sent to Prince Chun in March of this year, asking Prince Chun to make careful plans to put an end to it, and the edict immediately proposed appropriate measures. I have read Prince Chun's document and there are words like: There is no need to implement it hastily, but we must be persistent in our determination. As soon as overseas opium does not come, we will tighten the ban on Chinese opium poppy. It is really a general idea of Dongda, adapting to the Taiwan incident, and it is not convenient to discuss it. Icha foreign medicines are imported from India, about 70,000 boxes are sold every year, and more than 30 million yuan are sold. The British knew clearly that it was harmful to people, but they did not want to ban foreign merchants from selling it, and they wanted to ban domestic cultivation in China. Their intentions were extremely cunning.
When revising the treaty last year, the Prime Minister's Office and the British envoys repeatedly spoke and stated in advance that they could neither ban British merchants from selling foreign cigarettes nor ban Chinese people from eating foreign cigarettes. They could only temporarily ban opium poppy, which would not only rob foreign merchants. Rights and interests can be increased, and taxes can be increased. It is difficult to guarantee that this will not be the case in the future due to poverty and pressing circumstances.
At that time, the British envoys were very moved when they heard about it, but the soldiers in the country did not hear it. I'm afraid it will be useless even if I argue with you again. We should still follow the original proposal of the Prime Minister's Yamen and resist the negative side. In the hope that foreign medicines will gradually become less available in Hebei, it is better to tighten the ban.
There are many kinds of opium poppies in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. The officials in Xinjiang and Taiwan always stated the prohibition in their remonstrances, which was just to fight for foreign profiteers and to give officials the handle to harass them. After all, opium poppy is being planted more and more widely every day, and it cannot be stopped suddenly.
