After meeting with Geng Xingwen, Zhou Zhi met with the navy deputy general Zhou Mancheng and conveyed the instructions of the General Staff Council.
Similarly, Zhou Mancheng also said that he would obey Zhou Zhi's orders. Of course, when fighting on the front line, he hoped that Zhou Zhi would fully delegate power to him.
"You can guarantee this. Your Majesty has said that when marching and fighting, the most fearful thing is for laymen to command experts. Attacking cities and plundering ground is my specialty, and fighting on the water is yours. Don't worry, I will never interfere with the tactics of fighting on the water. .”
Zhou Zhi made a promise, and Zhou Mancheng was very satisfied.
The three armies with different organizational structures reached an agreement on this, determined the unified command, and clarified their respective responsibilities.
Now, they can speak out unanimously.
At the same time, the logistics and transportation tasks led by the Privy Council were successfully completed.
After Su Yonglin's restructuring, the Privy Council became the steward of the army and was no longer responsible for directing military operations. However, when the army was fighting, the Privy Council needed to command the auxiliary troops and civilians to ensure the logistics supply of the army. If there was a shortage of frontline soldiers, they would be punished. Privy Council.
Because of this relationship, Sun Tzu Yi had already begun preparations for logistical supplies after Su Yonglin decided to go to war.
In this battle, in accordance with past practice, civilians were mobilized nearby to participate in the work of providing logistics for the army, and auxiliary troops from the army were mobilized as the core of the logistics support force to organize the civilian team.
After Su Yonglin clarified the professional nature of the combat soldiers, he also clarified the professional nature of the auxiliary soldiers. He also incorporated the auxiliary soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council and gave them corresponding treatment and attention.
Compared with combat soldiers, auxiliary soldiers' salary is about one-third of that of combat soldiers. The direct income is not high, but the workload is not small. Auxiliary soldiers have to do many things, but auxiliary soldiers are still counted as soldiers of the Ming army and their family members. They also have military status and enjoy preferential policies.
Auxiliary troops are indeed an indispensable part of the army, and their existence is very necessary.
For example, maintaining weapons. There are many weapons in the army. Weapons need maintenance, and different weapons require different maintenance methods. How to maintain swords and guns, how to maintain bows and crossbows, how to maintain bed crossbows, how to maintain siege equipment, etc. These things are not casual. It can be solved by finding someone. At this time, professional auxiliary soldiers are needed to take charge.
And some special units also need the help of auxiliary soldiers, such as heavy cavalry units. Heavy cavalry cannot move alone. It requires help to put on armor, and to get on and off horses. A heavy cavalry requires at least two professional auxiliaries. Help to prepare for battle.
Therefore, when it comes to the recruitment of auxiliary troops, Su Yonglin generally prefers to solve it within the army.
Generally speaking, every time the army streamlines its personnel and eliminates unqualified soldiers, the Ming army will give the soldiers two choices. One is to stay and become auxiliary soldiers to continue serving the army, and the other is to change jobs and return to their hometown to participate in the distribution of land and engage in farming.
In this case, most of the dismissed soldiers will choose to become auxiliary soldiers and continue to work in the familiar army. This is where most of the auxiliary soldiers in the Ming army come from.
Once the war begins, the local government will issue orders from the Privy Council for local people to participate in supporting military logistics.
At this time, the auxiliary soldiers in the army who are familiar with military affairs will automatically become the captains of the civilians, leading a varying number of civilians to provide logistical support to the army, and use their professional knowledge to ensure that army supplies will not be damaged by ignorant civilians.
This war is the same.
Su Yonglin signed an order allowing the Privy Council to mobilize 100,000 local civilians in Shandong to provide logistical support to the army, and asked the Shandong local government to assist the Privy Council in handling this matter.
Then he issued an order from the Central Committee of the Renaissance, asking the Renaissance organizations in various parts of Shandong to fully cooperate with local officials, mobilize manpower and material resources that would not affect the level of spring plowing arrangements, and fully provide support to the army.
Auxiliary soldiers who participate in logistics support operations naturally have corresponding arrangements, while civilians who participate in logistics support operations are provided with meals and subsidies by the local government in accordance with labor regulations, and are counted as participating in labor service.
In terms of remuneration, if the local finance allows it, the money will be provided by the local finance. If the finance does not allow, the Privy Council will issue a note to the civilian husband as an expense compensation, which can be used to offset taxes in the future.
It is worth mentioning that Su Yonglin never allowed local governments to issue IOUs. This power has always been controlled by central agencies.
If there is money, the local government will provide the money as much as possible, so that the working people can get real money or things.
When there is no money, the corresponding central department will issue an IOU and report it to the Ministry of Finance for approval and filing. Then the IOU will be obtained and distributed to the private sector.
For example, for military-related mobilizations, the Central Privy Council will issue IOUs, and for engineering-related mobilizations, the Central Ministry of Works will issue IOUs. Generally speaking, these two departments have the power to issue IOUs, and they must also be reported to the Ministry of Finance for approval and filing. , can't mess around.
Su Yonglin was not without consideration of what kind of trouble would be caused if this power was delegated to local officials.
And in the final analysis, Baitiao is just a transitional alternative policy.
Because a large number of projects were being launched, the Ming Empire was financially tight and could not afford much money, so it could only use this method of borrowing money from the private sector to complete projects and operations.
Su Yonglin used the government's credibility as a guarantee and gave Bai Tiao a certain value, so that Bai Tiao could borrow private manpower and material resources to complete major projects ahead of schedule.
Essentially, borrowing money to do things.
When the government's credibility is perfect, the value of IOUs is very strong.
For example, Su Yonglin heard that there was a shortage of currency when doing transactions among the people, or the copper coins were too heavy, and people were not willing to carry heavy copper coins with them. At this time, some people used the white slips from the Ming Empire government as currency, and both buyers and sellers were happy to use the white slips. trade.
Once there is a problem with the government's credibility, the IOU will instantly become useless paper and worthless.
So three months before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Su Yonglin heard that some people were using white bars as currency for transactions, and he suddenly realized that he seemed to have inadvertently created a special kind of banknotes.
A paper currency backed by the creditworthiness of the central government and government tax revenues.
Although it is not yet possible to roll it out on a large scale, if it can be relied on to promote people's trust in the central government, it will undoubtedly lay a solid foundation for China to enter the era of gold and silver standard and paper currency economy in the future.
Copper has many uses. It is a very good material for physical and chemical experiments. Since China is short of copper, it would be too wasteful to use copper to mint money on a large scale.
The continued circulation of copper coins will only continue to cause deflation and economic crisis, affecting the further development of China's economy.
After all, it is quite difficult to collect seigniorage in this era.
And if the gold and silver standard system can be established through government banknotes, it will be of great benefit to the future economic and scientific development of the Ming Dynasty.
However, China is also not a country rich in gold and silver. If we want to raise the gold and silver standard, I am afraid that the import of external gold and silver is indispensable.
That may require external expansion and colonial economic plunder...
Su Yonglin's thoughts quickly jumped to the distant place.
Afterwards, Su Yonglin quickly realized the importance of Bai Tiao.
From that time on, Su Yonglin carried out all-round monitoring of Bai Tiao, and set up a Bai Tiao Monitoring Department under the Finance Department of the General Affairs Bureau, which is the predecessor of the Bai Tiao Department under the Ministry of Finance today, to investigate the popularity of Bai Tiao among the private sector.
After more than two months of investigation, Su Yonglin came to the conclusion that existing IOUs are at great risk of being forged and abused.
When Su Yonglin thought of Bai Tiao as a temporary way to alleviate financial stress, he did not intend to use it for a long time. He also expected that the people would soon sell the Bai Tiao in exchange for real benefits, so he just cut the Bai Tiao with random paper, wrote on it, and stamped it. It's ready to use.
But now it seems that due to the high credibility of ITBs, in some areas, the public seems to use ITBs as currency in the field of economic circulation. It is no longer regarded as a time bomb, and there is no need to get rid of it in time. Some people even collect and store it.
At present, there may not be anyone who will come up with other crooked ideas, but no one can guarantee that there will not be such people. This will inevitably lead to the risk of counterfeit coins.
