"There is no money in the treasury. That is your household department's business. What does it have to do with my military department? According to you, if our military department has troubles, we can just leave it to your household department." Shumulu Shuhed said.
"Shu Hede, are you not speaking unreasonably? The reason why our Ministry of Revenue has no money is not because your Ministry of War is incompetent. If your Ministry of War has the ability to take over the tax land in the south of the Yangtze River, then will our Ministry of Households have no money? "Niu Hulu. Aragon scolded angrily.
"That's right, is it reasonable for the Ministry of War to say this?" At this time, the Minister of Hubu and others also echoed Niu Hulu Aligun's words.
………
Soon, the court became noisy.
"Okay, shut up." Looking at the commotion in the court, Qianlong cursed angrily.
"The servants (minions) are guilty..." Hearing this, all the officials in the court knelt down and confessed.
"Okay, we are all safe. What I want is not that you are guilty, but how to solve the problem." Qianlong said angrily.
"The servants (minions) are waiting to thank the Emperor for his grace."
………
"Arigun, how was the financial settlement of the Ministry of Revenue last year?" Qianlong asked with an indifferent look.
"Back to the emperor, I have already calculated it. Since the southern provinces failed to collect taxes in time, they collected 30 million taels of silver last year, which was not calculated in kind." Niu Hulu Aligun replied after saluting Qianlong. .
"But last year, wars continued and military expenditures were huge. Coupled with the military expenditures of local defenders, the expenses of court operations, the expenses of the royal family, and the money for the salaries of the Eight Banners disciples, etc., the imperial court not only had no balance last year, but also took money from the treasury. Nine million six hundred and forty-five thousand three hundred and thirty taels of silver will be used as subsidies."
"Although the imperial court does not need to send troops to quell the short-haired bandits in the south for the time being, the serious trouble in the south cannot be guarded against. It is not yet known when the war in the Western Regions and Burma will be settled, and Sichuan is not peaceful recently, so it is estimated that troops will be used to quell it again. . If we have to send troops to Tsarist Russia now, and the national treasury has to support so many front expenses at the same time, how can it possibly be able to support it, then it will bottom out soon."
"At that time, where else can the imperial court come up with so much money to use as military pay? Without military pay, can the frontline army still have combat effectiveness? The remote areas are said to be able to take it easy, but the short-haired thieves in the south are a big problem. If Without the support of money and food from the treasury, they will come to the capital."
Although Niu Hulu and Ali Gun's words were a bit unpleasant, Qianlong also listened. After looking around at the ministers in the court, he asked: "You have also heard what the Minister of the Ministry of Finance said. Regarding the imperial court, Do you have any good solutions to the current difficulties?"
There was silence in the court again.
"Your Majesty, I believe that increasing revenue and reducing expenditure is the key today." At this time, only one voice was heard from the group of ministers. Qianlong looked around and saw that the person standing out was Shijia Heniu, the Minister of Household Affairs who had just agreed with Niu Hulu and Aligun.
"Pingshen, tell me what you think." Qianlong said.
"Yes, I thank you for your grace." As he spoke, Shi Jia Heniu slowly stood up straight.
"Your Majesty, those who raise money are just trying to find ways to increase the court's taxes. There are tens of millions of people in our Qing Dynasty. If each person can be given one penny of silver, the court can quickly obtain 10 million taels of taxes. In this way, the problem of the court’s shortage of money can be greatly alleviated.”
"Although the price of silver has increased nowadays, one tael of silver can be exchanged for one thousand four hundred copper coins. In this calculation, one coin of silver is only one hundred and forty copper coins. And a farmer who goes to work in the city can earn a day's salary of ①Two hundred or even three hundred coins, and one hundred and forty coins is only half a day's salary for one person. Therefore, the levy of one coin per person will not have a great impact on the people, but it can greatly improve the production efficiency of the people, making those who only Think lazy people should quickly find a job to do.”
"Well, not bad. Are there any others?" Qianlong nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask.
"I heard that the short-haired thieves in the south opened up maritime trade and gained a lot. Can our country also open up the maritime ban? And then increase the tax on maritime trade to increase the national treasury revenue?" Shi Jia Heniu asked Qianlong with vigilance. .
"Your Majesty, Wu Daoqing felt that something was wrong with Lord Heniu's words regarding the Sixth Section." While Qianlong was still thinking, he heard a courtier stand up and object to Shi Jia Heniu's words.
Qianlong turned around and glanced at Wu Daoqing, who stood up, and motioned for him to continue.
"This dynasty has banned the sea since the founding of the dynasty, even before the Ming Dynasty. Why? Because during maritime trade, our people must buy something, and most of the things that drift in are expensive things. For example, a foreign clock needs to be There are more than one hundred taels of silver, which is enough for the expenses of six relatively wealthy families for a year. A set of glazed lamps can be sold for hundreds of taels. It is easy to imagine how expensive the price is, and the wealth that our country has lost is self-evident. "
"We have a vast land and abundant resources. We have everything we need. Why should we lose such wealth to overseas barbarians? Although opening up sea trade can collect some taxes, it will also inevitably lead to the loss of private wealth. At that time, the imperial court's tax revenue in other places will also be reduced. It’s less. In this way, taxes just go from the left hand to the right hand.”
"Furthermore, if our country's wealth will be lost to other countries because the court wants to collect a small amount of sea trade taxes, it would be better for the court to collect it directly and avoid the loss of national wealth."
"Well, what Mr. Wu said is reasonable. It is indeed not allowed to open up. There must be a reason why the sea has been banned since the founding of this dynasty and even before the Ming Dynasty." When Wu Daoqing paused, some ministers couldn't help but agree. He heard what Wu Daoqing said.
"That is, the former Ming Dynasty has banned the sea for more than two hundred years. Are all the people of the previous Ming Dynasty fools? They must also understand this. Our dynasty has implemented a sea ban since Emperor Sejong. In addition to wars, I guess they also understand this. point."
"..."
At this time, Wu Daoqing glanced at Qianlong and saw that he was still silent, seeming to signal him to continue talking.
However, I heard Shi Jia Heniu hit back at Wu Daoqing and said: "What Mr. Wu said may make sense, but you have to know that in maritime trade, there is buying and selling. We can also sell things to them and get good profits. Otherwise, you How do you explain that the short-haired thieves admire maritime trade so much and get good tax revenue?"
Note ①: For relevant information, you can read back to the previous chapters, or of course you can search on Baidu yourself. Here, Shi Jia and Heniu certainly have the element of deceiving Qianlong. Generally, only skilled workers such as carpenters can earn more than 200 fen a day, while ordinary workers earn around 70 to 120 fen per day, and of course there are even less. And these are still relatively peaceful times, and when there is war, the wages of these workers will be lower.
