"The rogue bandits are becoming more and more stable in the southwest?"
Emperor Zhu frowned slightly and asked: "They are a bunch of Shaanxi people from far away and they are also vulgar bandits. How can they not only make the Sichuan people happy, but also make themselves rich and maintain so many troops?" , there is even enough money left to import foreign guns and artillery through Myanmar? What is the reason for this? Ma Qing, Zeng Qing, have you ever thought about it?"
yes? what is the reason?
Ma Shiying and Zeng Ying looked at each other. Of course they knew the answer!
Sichuan is known as the land of abundance. As early as the Tang Dynasty, it was known as "Yang Yi Yi Er". It is the second richest place in the world after the southeast. During the Wanli period, Nanzhili in "Yangyi" had a provincial direct tax quota of more than 6 million shi, while Sichuan in "Yangyi" only had 1.08 million shi!
At the same time, Jiangxi's total tax and grain tax was more than 2.6 million shi, Zhejiang's was more than 2.5 million shi, and even Shaanxi had to pay more than 1.7 million shi...
Zhu Cixiang continued: "According to the provincial direct tax grain quota set during the Wanli period, Sichuan's is 1.08 million shi, Yunnan is less than 180,000 shi, and Guizhou is more than 50,000 shi. The total of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan is about 1.3 million shi, and now Most of Zunyi Prefecture in Guizhou and Sichuan is still owned by the imperial court. The rogue bandits only occupy most of Sichuan, the entire province of Yunnan, part of Hanzhong and Gongchang in Shaanxi, and Yunyang in Hubei. Rough statistics are based on the provincial direct tax grain quota. , the annual income is 1.4 million shi of white rice, plus salt tax of tens of thousands taels, commercial tax of tens of thousands taels... With this income, if you can fight against the imperial army?
The imperial court spends no less than three million on military affairs in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan each year, not counting the annual income of Guizhou and Zunyi Prefecture. How could the 100,000 Sichuan noble soldiers supported by more than 3 million taels be defeated by the rogue bandits who only had an income of 1 or 100,000 taels? Can you two talk to me? "
Ma Shiying understood what Zhu Cihong meant. He sighed and said, "Why do you ask questions knowingly? There are indeed many omissions in the land system of this dynasty. Sichuan is known as Tianfu, with thousands of miles of fertile fields and a population of tens of millions. How can there be only more than 13 million people?" Acres?"
Zhu Cihong said: "Yes, this number is similar to that of Fujian! Fujian has eight mountains, one water and one farmland, while Sichuan is a paradise!"
Seeing Ma Shiying lift the lid, Zeng Ying also smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, the land of Tianfu in Sichuan certainly has more than 13 million acres... I don't know the actual number. I only know that it is in the Chongqing area. The acres of land are often only one-third to one-quarter of the real number.”
In other words, the actual number of acres of farmland in Sichuan is at least 40 to 50 million acres! Moreover, these 40 to 50 million acres are still flat land, at least half of which are paddy fields. In later generations, the cultivated land area of Sichuan Province plus Chongqing City was more than 130 million acres...but in the ledgers of the Ming Dynasty, there were only 13 million acres! His conscience was so damned that it was eaten by a dog!
In addition, Sichuan salt is famous in history and can compete with Huaiyan salt. It can be said that in the last few years of Emperor Chongzhen's reign, Sichuan's salt tax was so low that it was almost gone!
Zhu Cihong snorted: "Sichuan has many paddy fields, and rarely suffers from floods and droughts. The climate is suitable, and rice can be harvested twice a year. Even if there are more than 10 million acres of paddy fields, the annual output of white rice should be 40 to 50 million shi. , why only gave the court 1.08 million shi? Where is the conscience? If Sichuan can give the full 3 million, the court still has to pay taxes in Shaanxi, which has been suffering from drought for many years? If the Shaanxi people can be exempted from taxes, how can there be rogue bandits? The disaster that Sichuan's gentry is facing today is actually caused by themselves. I spend more than three million yuan in military expenditures every year, and I will never do anything more benevolent and righteous again!"
What's the meaning? Sichuan is so big, Yunnan is so big, why don’t we need it?
Zeng Ying never expected that Emperor Zhu would abandon Sichuan and Yunnan at this time. But Emperor Zhu could give up, but he couldn't, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, this, this... how can the land left by our ancestors in Sichuan and Yunnan be donated?"
"Don't tell me these useless things!" Emperor Zhu said with a smile, "My court now has an annual income of more than ten million, which is as much as Sichuan's one million, so it's okay if you don't want it!"
Sichuan! The land of abundance!
How can it be possible if the tax paid per year is less than 10 million?
Now a total of eight provinces, including Four Rivers, Two Lakes, Fujian and Guangdong, jointly bear a tax of 100 million. This amount is definitely not light!
If Emperor Zhu only asked Sichuan to hand over one million yuan, wouldn't the gentry from Fujian and Guangdong in the four rivers and two lakes start a quarrel? And the people of Sichuan can’t live with it in their conscience!
Zeng Ying was speechless by Zhu Cixiang's words, and Ma Shiying already understood that Zhu Cixiang wanted to increase taxes in Sichuan!
"Your Majesty," Ma Shiying said, "Sichuan has gone through years of war, people's livelihood has been ruined, and all industries have been abandoned... Even if it is recovered, it will take many years of rest and recuperation."
Zhu Cixiang asked with a smile: "Since the people's livelihood is in ruins and all industries are in ruins, how can the rogue bandits maintain so many troops? The Sichuan-Guizhou army has no less than one hundred thousand, with muskets, cannons, breastplates, and military pay and rations fully supplied. How can they fight? But what about the rogue bandits? Zeng Ying, tell me."
what did you say?
The Military Advisor Office sends a staff team to Sichuan and Guizhou every year to investigate, and it has a very good understanding of the situation in Sichuan and Guizhou. Although the Sichuan-Guizhou army is not as elite as the army directly under the imperial court, and the battalion-level phalanx is a bit inflexible in the Sichuan-Guizhou mountainous area where "the ground is not even three feet flat". However, there is only one main reason why the Sichuan Guiming Army lost more than it won - the Dashun Army had at least 200,000 people! And the equipment level is not too bad. At least in the rugged mountainous terrain, Dashun's equipment is enough.
And how much does it cost to have an army of 200,000 soldiers with good equipment, good training, and high morale? How can it be enough if there is no real expenditure of six million a year?
In addition to using troops in Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hubei and other directions, the Dashun Army has also carried out reforms in Yunnan and Sichuan in recent years. It has wiped out all the local snakes, including Mu Tianbo, and still has no chance of fighting. Unbeatable!
How much military spending will this cost?
What makes famous Sichuan generals like Zeng Ying even more speechless is that Sichuan under the rule of rogue bandits has basically maintained a well-off situation where the people are happy. Although it cannot be compared with the prosperity in the southeast, the comfort of small farmland is still there.
"Your Majesty," Ma Shiying came to Zeng Ying's rescue, "the rogue bandits implemented a method of enclosing land and equalizing farmland in Sichuan. They enclosed more than 10 million acres in Sichuan and distributed it to the soldiers and generals below, allowing them to collect rent and support themselves. The remaining The land was equally distributed to the common people, and the puppet dynasty collected taxes... The specific method was the same as the Tang Dynasty's renting Yongdiao. So it didn't cost them much to raise 200,000 soldiers, and the rice and grain they received from renting Yongdiao , cloth, and drafts are enough to maintain the expenses of the puppet government and subsidize the military, and there is still enough money left to transport silk to Shalian in Burma in exchange for guns and guns from the Westerners."
Ma Shiying only told half of what he said. The other half was that after the Dashun Dynasty stabilized Sichuan for a long time, they continued to implement "earth destruction", cracked down on powerful chieftains, and found out all the land that had been hidden in the past! Now in Sichuan Province alone, there are no less than 53 million acres of registered land! There are more than 6 million acres of farmland in Hanzhong, Yunyang, Gongchang and other places. Over in Yunnan, nearly 30 million acres were cleared!
There are now 90 million acres of cultivated land in the Dashun court's land account book!
Among them, 30 million acres were distributed to more than 200,000 soldiers, and the average was more than 100 acres. The annual income of white rice was as much as dozens of dan, which was enough to support military service. The remaining land was distributed to three million small farmers, and the total "rental transfer" amounted to more than 10 million (stones, horses) every year. In addition to the salt tax and commercial tax, Dashun's finances were certainly very comfortable. .
If the land income of the soldiers is included in the income of the Dashun court, they would have at least more than 20 million yuan (stones, horses, guns) a year, while the funds allocated by Zhu Cixiang to the Sichuan-Gui army are only 3 million taels a year, and then Including a little self-raised funds, the full amount is only 31.2 million, less than one-sixth of others. It's weird to win!
Emperor Zhu paused, then looked at Zeng Ying and said: "Zeng Qing, are most of the celebrities and gentry in Sichuan taking refuge in Guizhou? I now order you to be the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, Li Gande to be the governor of Sichuan, and Mu Tianbo to be the governor of Guizhou, and cancel the Western Sichuan, In the two military towns in eastern Sichuan, appoint Yang Zhan as the admiral of Sichuan and Li Zhanchun as the admiral of Guizhou... Go and discuss with the celebrities and gentry in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and decide on a plan for the counties in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces after the restoration of Sichuan. Pay the tax amount and report it to me. If I think it is feasible and profitable, I will mobilize soldiers to Sichuan.
In addition, no land captured by the rogue bandits and puppet dynasty could be returned to its original owners. Sichuan gentry and Sichuan army officers could only obtain land from the areas enclosed by the rogue bandits as reward and compensation. These lands will also need to be taxed the same as private lands in the future! Even during the tax holiday, Hounta must pay first and then get back the refund! "
