Since the Song Dynasty, vassal towns have become a particularly politically incorrect thing. And cutting down vassal vassals is a very politically correct thing to do.
But Zhu Cixiang's perspective on the issue of feudal towns was different from that of ordinary people. He did not view the feudal town from the perspective of maintaining the highest political ideal of unification, but looked at the feudal town from the most practical financial issues.
In his opinion, the purpose of establishing vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty was not to divide the country, but to defend the country. As for why we should use this kind of military and political vassal town to defend our country, the reason is very simple, just because we have no money!
When the Tang Dynasty passed into the hands of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty, there had already been problems of land annexation and the "non-taxation" of most of the population, that is, the majority of the population did not pay taxes.
The former makes the government army system unsustainable, while the latter leaves the central government with insufficient financial resources to raise soldiers.
Therefore, delegating power to local governments, establishing military and political vassal towns, and letting the governors of the vassal towns work hard to manage their own operations, take responsibility for their own profits and losses, and support a mercenary army capable of fighting became the only way for the Tang Dynasty to maintain its prosperity.
If Fangzhen had not been established, the land annexation and financial difficulties of the Tang Dynasty would have destroyed the country's armaments. Without an army to defend the country, would it really be better than the Anshi Rebellion?
Zhu Cixi's ability to make money is also one of the best among all Chinese emperors, so he has enough financial resources to support a large army. But there are many financial black holes before him now. For example, if Huanghuai is managed - can it be left unchecked? Hundreds of millions of people need to eat! If there is a big flood for you and tens of millions of dan are washed away, the price of rice will not rise to the sky?
The Shandong and Liaodong battlefields are also financial black holes! Both places have little income, and in order to incorporate the four towns in Shandong, Zhu Cixiang expanded the new army to overcome difficulties by 80,000 troops. The annual military expenditure alone will increase by four to five million taels!
In addition, the government in Shandong and Liaodong still have expenses, there are many large-scale construction projects, and there are two farming divisions - farming in Jinzhou, Liaodong is also about to start, and potatoes, soybeans and sorghum will be planted.
These two places will have to spend a lot of money in the past two years. Spending tens of millions every year is nothing!
Sichuan and Guizhou are now on the verge of becoming fiscal black holes!
Because Dashun and Daxi merged, the strength of the Dashun army increased greatly. Chengdu Prefecture finally failed to defend it in the summer of the first year of Hongxing. Ma Shiying, Yang Zhan, Zeng Ying, Qin Yiming and other armies are now retreating to Sichuan Xingdusi, Mahu Prefecture, Wumeng Prefecture, Dongchuan Prefecture, Zhenxiong Prefecture, Wusa Prefecture in western Sichuan, Zunyi Prefecture in southern Sichuan, and Guizhou Resistance continued on provincial territory.
This is another army of hundreds of thousands plus a lot of land that cannot collect taxes - the land tax quota in Sichuan is only 1.08 million shi, and in Guizhou it is only 50,800 shi. Now with this little land left, I don't know if the annual tax amount is 100,000 dan? And the cost of an army of hundreds of thousands is at least several million a year...
In addition, the Sichuan army had been fighting against the armies of Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng (pretend), and Li Guo in Sichuan for five or six years, and the imperial court did not allocate any military expenditures.
How to calculate the score after five or six years of fighting with more than 100,000 Sichuan troops? With so many people killed in battle, what about those who were maimed?
If he really wanted to be reasonable, Zhu Cixiang would have to spend at least 20 to 30 million taels to repay Ma Shiying, Yang Zhan, Zeng Ying, Qin Yiming and other troops...
And Ganshan, which Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong are holding on to, is naturally a super-large bottomless black hole!
Thinking about how much money the Qing Dynasty spent on the long-term war with the Jungar tribe in history, you can imagine how big the holes in Gansu and Shaanxi were?
Finally, the situation in Yunnan has never been stable, and it is a fiscal black hole that is forming.
If Zhu Cixiang wanted to take over all the black holes and carry them himself, it would be a no-brainer that Ming Dynasty did not have more than 100 million yuan in wealth!
Therefore, it became the only way out to carry the black hole that had to be carried up and leave the less important areas to the feudal town.
Oh, it can’t be said to be the only one. There is another way out, which is to transfer the financial black hole to the grassroots soldiers...
And the price is that the Ming army's combat effectiveness plummets again!
.......
"Two gentlemen, Shopkeeper Huang and Shopkeeper Su have arrived."
In Xiangyang Prefecture, in the Military Affairs Office of the Governor of Hubei and Henan, Wu Sangui finally waited for the "expert" who could solve Wu Sangui's financial difficulties.
The governor-general's Hubei and Henan military affairs offices were Wu Sanfu's territory. In the territory directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, military affairs and government affairs had begun to be separated.
The senior officials in charge of the military affairs of one party include the governor (in charge of the military affairs of two provinces or above), the admiral (in charge of one province), and the general soldier (in charge of one government).
Field units such as divisions and regiments are assigned to the Governor's Yamen, Admiral's Yamen or General Soldier's Yamen during wartime. In non-war times, the Generalissimo's Office has jurisdiction over military orders, and the Ministry of War manages military affairs.
In addition, there are 16 general offices in various parts of the town, which are responsible for recruiting soldiers, training new soldiers and protecting military families.
The yamen in charge of civil affairs are divided into three levels: governor (in charge of a province), magistrate (state), and county magistrate (state). Among them, governors and prefects will also have jurisdiction over a small number of troops to maintain local security.
Wu Sanfu, who entertained Wu Sangui in Xiangyang, is now the governor-general in charge of the military affairs of the two provinces.
And this governor is not permanent. Now, not counting the governors of southern and southern Beiyang, there are only three governors of Hubei and Henan, Wu Sanfu, governors of Shandong and Liaodong, Shi Kefa, and governors of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, Ma Shiying.
"Please come quickly." Although Wu Sanfu was the governor and the uncle of the state, he still did not dare to show off in front of the two big shopkeepers.
"Second brother," after instructing his staff to invite him, Wu Sanfu took off his official uniform, stood up, and said to Wu Sangui, "these two people followed the emperor before the breakthrough in Beijing, although they were just imperial merchants. , but it is no small matter to control two major banks! And although both of them have no official positions, they both have titles. Huang Jiang is the new uncle of Kenan, and Su Sheng is the uncle of Qingpu of Kenan."
"Really?" Wu Sangui also stood up, "Two imperial merchants have also been granted the title of earl?"
"The earl doesn't have much, but the shopkeepers of the two major banks are very powerful... The two of them can take over the debt of the eldest brother with just one word."
"Really? That would be great!" Wu Sangui finally felt relieved.
Debt-free and light-hearted!
...
"My lord, my Majesty, the debts owed by you and the king are all feudal debts, not national debts."
"My lord, the imperial court can help you a little bit in repaying the vassal's debts, but it is absolutely impossible to take over all the debts."
The huge debt has not left...
The two count businessmen Huang Jiang and Su Sheng, although they were friendly and made money, had no intention of helping Wu Sangui pay off his debts.
They were only ordered to investigate the debt situation and help Wu Sangui and Zhu Cijiong negotiate with creditors to reach a debt restructuring plan.
"How can we repay a debt of several million with the financial resources of Gansu and Shaanxi?" Wu Sangui shook his head with a bitter look on his face.
He was probably the first lord of a vassal town after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms who wanted to withdraw from the vassal but failed, right?
It would be extremely painful for a warlord to be like him.
"It doesn't matter if you still can't pay," Huang Jiang smiled, "If you still can't pay, just borrow more!"
Su Sheng nodded: "Lend him 10 million... and your descendants and grandchildren will pay it back slowly. There will always be time to pay it back!"
I want my descendants to pay it back! Wu Sangui said in her heart that she felt sorry for Wu Yingxiong... As a feudal lord, he still had to bear a huge debt!
"But who else is willing to borrow money from Gansu and Shaanxi?" Wu Sanfu knows more about finance than his second brother. He has been in the southeast for several years and has seen a lot.
"There is a way!" Huang Jiang patted his chest, "We have a way... What we need to do now is to find out the debt situation of Jin Guogong, and at the same time establish Fangzhen under the command of Jin Guogong as soon as possible. There is Once we have Fang Town, there will be domain properties and taxes, so we can calculate the upper limit of the feudal debt. Once we have calculated the upper limit, we can discuss it with the creditors, and we can always negotiate a reasonable term and interest rate."
Su Sheng added: "The Emperor also has an idea to issue transferable vassal debt notes! Let the vassal debts be liquid and copy and sell, forming a vassal debt trading market."
