"Your Highness, colleagues, if the army is expanded to more than half a million, the fiscal revenue may not be able to support it. Please discuss in detail whether we need to delay the move."
Some people have raised doubts about the military expansion.
Bi Ziyan, the chief officer of the tax department.
After the Ming Dynasty God of Wealth resigned and returned home, he joined the Xia Kingdom system.
In view of his ability, Zuo Menggeng appointed him as the chief of the tax department.
During the Ming Dynasty, Bi Ziyan was the Minister of Household Affairs.
The Ministry of Household Affairs has many responsibilities and powers, not only in charge of finance and taxation, but also in charge of household registration, people's livelihood and many other matters.
After arriving in Xia Kingdom, Bi Ziyan discovered that the division of labor among government departments here was very detailed.
But the benefits are also obvious. The burden on officials' shoulders is much lighter.
Moreover, there are specializations in the profession, which will not involve energy or affect efficiency, and can also supervise and balance each other.
It is far more scientific than the Ming Dynasty’s architecture.
During the Ming Dynasty, faced with a dire financial situation, Bi Ziyan was in dire straits and was helpless. As for Xia Guo, to be honest, he himself felt that this official's job was too easy.
Although the Xia Kingdom abolished agricultural taxes, the annual industrial and commercial taxes were very considerable.
In particular, Xia State also has state-owned industries, which have to turn over a large amount of profits to the country every year.
In addition, the Xia Kingdom has been constantly exploring the outside world, and conquering and plundering it is even more cost-effective.
All these things combined made Xia Guo's financial situation very comfortable.
This is also the main reason why Xia State can always carry out drastic reforms and construction, which naturally allows the people to live a good life.
However, this time the army was going to be expanded. Bi Ziyan made careful calculations and found that there were still some risks based on the current financial situation.
Of course he knew that the purpose of expanding the army was to unify the country and end the suffering of the people all over the world as soon as possible. But as a financial officer, it is natural to proceed from reality to avoid turmoil in the country.
After seeing Bi Ziyan's calculation results, everyone couldn't help but admire the old gentleman's carefulness.
"As the saying goes, if there is an old man in the family, it is like having a treasure. If there is an opportunity for Hui Gong to coordinate finance and taxation, there will be nothing wrong with it."
Zuo Menggeng praised him, which made Bi Ziyan feel humble.
Looking at this old man who was supposed to die in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Zuo Mengeng was quite proud.
Perhaps it was because he had escaped from the fiery pit of Ming Dynasty that the old man no longer had to endure the suffering of his country. Therefore, if you feel comfortable, you can prolong your life.
However, the military also responded to Bi Ziyan's concerns.
"Jing Huigong's calculations are based on the expansion of field troops. But this time we plan to expand the security forces. Although there are 800,000 in number, they still cannot compare with the field troops in terms of financial consumption. .”
The government was very happy to hear that the financial expenditure for military expansion did not require that much.
"Minister Zhou, what are field troops? What are security forces?"
Qu Shiru humbly asked for advice.
"If it is only for frontal combat, the current number of troops in our army is already sufficient. Our current twelve main divisions and three marine divisions are not bragging, they are enough to conquer the world. But everyone knows that conquering the world is easy. , we also need to consider defending the world. We can't take the place with the front foot and leave the back foot to others. The guards of these places require security forces. Since the powerful enemies have been eliminated by the field troops, it does not take too much to control the place. Strong combat power. Therefore, there is no need to strive for excellence in terms of troops, weapons, combat effectiveness, etc. The main purposes of the security forces are to ensure local security, to exterminate bandits and thieves, and to suppress local areas. Therefore, in terms of military expenditures, Only about half of the field force is enough.”
As far as the Xia Army's 700,000 field troops are concerned, it is definitely enough to unify the country. This time Xia Jun wanted to expand his troops, but it was the second-line troops.
These second-line troops need to take over the territory captured by the field troops, help establish political power, and consolidate local security. Although it does not have the same combat effectiveness as field troops, it is indispensable.
When they heard that military spending could be cut in half, the government lost all worries and expressed support.
As a result, the proposal to expand the military was unanimously approved.
For Xia Jun, it is not difficult to expand the army.
Because in daily military construction, in addition to the main force, militia and reserve forces have always been important sources of troops for the army. This time it is just a matter of transforming this part into a formal army.
The total number of Xia's militia and reserves exceeds one million, which is fully sufficient to expand the army.
The Xia Kingdom has begun preparations to unify the whole country, but in the distant Liaodong, the Ming Army has ushered in its end.
Hauge's reminder allowed Huang Taiji to discover the weaknesses of the Ming army faster.
In the past, when the Ming army fought against the Qing army, they often used the method of dividing their forces to attack together, but in the end they were defeated by the Qing army one by one.
Once bitten, twice shy.
In order to avoid making the same mistake again, Hong Chengchou simply gathered 130,000 troops together.
But in doing so, it would be equivalent to completely abandoning the surrounding vast area. No matter how the Qing army deployed calmly, our side could only be passively beaten.
Wu Sangui and others were all worried about this decision, and they all expressed their opinions to Hong Chengchou, hoping to focus on protecting the left and right wings and the rear.
However, Hong Chengchou didn't listen at all, for fear that after the troops were divided, they would be eaten by the Qing army.
Wu Sangui and others were helpless, and they all had a premonition that the situation was not good.
Huang Taiji moved quickly.
He immediately ordered Dorgon to lead his troops to bypass Rufeng Mountain and Songshan Mountain and insert themselves between Songshan Mountain and Xingshan Mountain to isolate the connection between the two Ming armies and cut off the Ming army's logistics supply line.
Dorgon first maneuvered westward along the north bank of the Nuer River, then crossed the river and headed south.
After the investigation clearly revealed the Ming army's layout, Dorgon made a prompt decision and started frantically digging trenches along the Daughter River to the seaside.
On August 20th, the Qing army did nothing but went all out in soil construction work.
The trench they dug was eight feet deep and one foot wide at the top. However, the bottom is very narrow, barely enough for a foothold.
With this width, even if the war horse is running at full speed, it cannot leap across. If a person falls into a trench, there is no way he can climb out.
Not only that, there are three trenches in front and back.
No one knows what the Ming army was doing on this day. Why did they show no reaction and watch the Qing army build construction in their rear?
In short, the Ming army, which had an absolute advantage in numbers and firearms, was suddenly surrounded by the Qing army.
The way forward is blocked, the way back is cut off, and you are trapped in a desperate situation.
Huang Taiji breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the report that Dorgon's defense line had been established.
"Although the enemy army is large in number, it must have insufficient food and grass. Now that our army has cut off its food routes, it must have no intention of holding on. I ordered all the armies to stay on guard and lay traps. This time, Hong Chengchou's entire army must be annihilated."
