Grain is a bulk strategic material, and it can be transported downstream. However, if it is transported upstream or overland, the freight will be extremely high.
If the distance is longer, the freight will exceed the price of the food itself.
In addition, we have to take into account the Ming Dynasty's blockade. Unlike saltpeter, iron and other high-value materials that are easy to transport secretly, grain is large and heavy. The most important thing is that the demand is extremely huge.
Think about it, how much food would it take to feed hundreds of thousands or millions of people?
The Baoxiang Army purchases large-scale outsourcing, and a little bit is of little use. If the quantity is large, no matter how greedy the officials of the Ming Dynasty are, they will not be able to let your densely packed grain transport fleet, which almost covers the entire river, pass through in full view of the public. Yicheng is heading to Xiangyang!
Even if he wants to be greedy for money and let you go, he has to worry about whether others will impeach him as a collaborator.
Therefore, if the Baoxiang Army wants to purchase grain from other places on a large scale, it will be extremely costly and difficult.
This further highlights the importance of the food produced by the Nanyang Basin itself, and the importance of the large amounts of food seized and confiscated by the army to protect the countryside.
Huang Chengxuan said: "Because grain is too important, we did not sell the large amount of surplus grain on site for cash, but put it under the overall management of the Finance Department."
"And in accordance with your previous instructions, General, a special grain storage department has been set up to be responsible for the preservation, operation and purchase of this batch of confiscated grain and subsequent taxed grain!"
After hearing this, Luo Zhixue nodded slightly: "Food is the foundation of people's livelihood. This person may not have anything else, but food is absolutely indispensable, so we must be more cautious about food issues!"
Luo Zhixue said: "Also, we seized too much grain this time, and the Grain Reserve Department cannot just hoard the grain. Except for the rations of soldiers, administrators, workers, and other related personnel in the field, other surplus grain It is necessary to sell appropriately according to the market situation to avoid drastic fluctuations in food prices, which will lead to difficulties in people's livelihood."
Huang Chengxuan immediately said: "General, don't worry, my subordinates know the importance. We have already arranged for the personnel of the Grain Storage Department to take over various confiscated grain shops and gradually release grains to the market!"
Chen Xingkai on the side also said: "The grain operation of your Finance Department should be faster. The summer harvest is coming soon. Later, I will collect a large amount of grain from here. We can't eat so much grain on our own." , the cost of housing is also high!”
Huang Chengxuan chuckled: "This is natural. How can we eat so much food with such a small number of people, and we won't hoard too much."
"Except for the necessary strategic reserve grains, we will gradually put the remaining grains on the market."
"If so much food is really eaten up by our own people, or if it is hoarded and not sold, I'm afraid the people will trade their food for food."
The grain confiscated, seized, and taxed by the Baoxiang Army was a huge amount. It cannot be calculated in terms of kilograms or tons. Instead, it must be calculated as a percentage of the total grain output in the Nanyang Basin...
A conservative estimate is that the taxable grain currently controlled and soon to be controlled by the Baoxiang Army accounts for at least about 20% of the total annual grain output in the Nanyang Basin this year. If summer harvest is included, this figure can rise to about 30%. .
At least 30% of the grain in the entire Nanyang Basin is controlled by the Baoxiang Army Grain Reserve Department.
If the Baoxiang Army keeps this food for sale or simply eats it until they die, then the Nanyang Basin may really be starved...
However, Luo Zhixue also reminded Huang Chengxuan: "Food must not only be released to meet the needs of people in various places, but also need to be purchased at stable prices for a long time. To ensure market supply, we must also ensure food price stability."
“We must not let farmers’ incomes drop just because they have had a bumper harvest!”
"In the future, the work of the Grain Reserves Department, in addition to ensuring food supply, also needs to elevate the work of stabilizing food prices to a more important level!"
Luo Zhixue knew very well that because the Baoxiang Army levied land tax mainly in kind and supplemented by cash, a large amount of various grains would be collected when collecting taxes. Some of these grains also need to be sold to obtain cash. Maintain the expenses of various systems of the rural protection army.
However, if such a large amount of food is put directly into the market without any care, it may cause drastic fluctuations in food prices and lead to hardship for people's livelihood.
That is a massive amount of grain that accounts for 20% or even 30% of the total output. Once the Grain Reserve Department starts selling grain, the price of grain will inevitably fluctuate violently.
So Luo Zhixue is still very concerned about this grain storage department!
————
The issue of money and food is the core issue for the Baoxiang Army to maintain the subsequent war. Luo Zhixue has always attached great importance to it.
Fortunately, Chen Xingkai from the tax department is wise in making money, and Huang Chengxuan from the finance department is also prudent in spending money, so even though the expenses of the Baoxiang Army have increased sharply in recent months.
However, according to the current income and expenditure of the Baoxiang Army, even considering that the Baoxiang Army continues to maintain rapid expansion in the future, the Baoxiang Army's finances can be maintained for at least two years.
The reason why the Baoxiang Army's various expenditures are so huge and there will still be a surplus after two years is naturally not how much tax the Baoxiang Army can collect from Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture.
In fact, according to the estimates of the Ministry of Taxation, after the tax situation of Nanyang Prefecture and Xiangyang Prefecture is completely clarified, the tax revenue of the above two places should be 500,000 taels a year, which is enough to reach the sky.
Compared with the current huge expenditure of the Baoxiang Army, it is not worth mentioning!
In May alone, the Baoxiang Army's monthly expenditure reached more than 300,000 taels of silver, and June's expenditure hit a new high, including cash and discounts on various materials, and is expected to exceed 500,000 taels of silver.
In other words, the normal tax revenue from these two places can only maintain the operation of the rural protection army for one month...
But the reason why Chen Xingkai and Huang Chengxuan believe that even after two years they will still have a surplus in the Hometown Protection Army...
It was just robbery... Alas, too much was stolen!
Just the two vassal kings, King Chu and King Xiang, contributed at least more than five million taels in cash and various materials or real estate to the Baoxiang Army without counting the land.
In addition, a large amount of property was confiscated from the hands of officials, gentry and wealthy families.
The total value can reach tens of millions.
With so much money and food, even if the Hometown Protection Army has no income in the future, it can still sustain the current ultra-high expenses for at least a year and a half.
Not to mention that the rural protection army will continue to expand in the future.
Chen Xingkai from the tax department had long expected to continue going south, because once the rural protection army went south and captured Chengtian Mansion, Hanyang Mansion, Jingzhou Mansion and other places, they could confiscate millions of taels of grain.
Having confiscated so much money and food, even if the Hometown Protection Army continued to expand its army at a rapid pace and fought everywhere, it would not be all spent in just two years.
After all, even if the Home Guard Army spends more money, there is a limit.
In May, the expenditure of the Baoxiang Army reached 300,000 taels of silver. It is expected that the expenditure in June will reach 500,000 taels of silver. However, the expenditure has increased so much in these two months. The expansion of the army is on the one hand and on the other hand. Or it was because the Baoxiang Army was engaged in factory construction.
In order to quickly build industrial bases in Xiangyang and Nanyang and produce all kinds of military supplies on a large scale, the Baoxiang Army invested heavily in building various factories, building equipment, training workers, etc.
When everything is about speed, money and food are flowing out like a flood that bursts a dike. Now in Nanyang City and Xiangyang City combined, at least 50,000 people are working on the construction site, just to be able to build the Xiangyang Arsenal as the core in the shortest time. Various factories have been built.
However, these are one-time investments. If the scale of production does not continue to be expanded in the future, there will be no need to maintain large-scale investments.
Long-term expenses are mainly military expenses and administrative expenses, and these will not suddenly increase by more than several million taels of silver.
For example, in terms of military expenditures, based on the current military expenditures of the Baoxiang Army, tens of thousands of main troops plus more than 10,000 surrendered troops, only about two to three hundred thousand taels of silver a month.
The salary, that is, the cash subsidy expenditure is not large, mainly food expenses and military supplies.
Speaking of food expenses, we have to mention the loudest slogan shouted by Bao Xiangjun when recruiting soldiers: enough food!
And if you want to have enough food, you need a lot of food. Even if the food that the soldiers of the Home Guard Army eat now is captured food, it still needs to be counted...
At the same time, the Baoxiang Army also tried their best to provide the soldiers with meat, eggs and other nutritious food, and these meat and eggs were not cheap!
If the consumed food supplies are converted into money, then the more than 20,000 soldiers of the Baoxiang Army and the tens of thousands of civilians who provide logistics, transportation, and engineering construction for the military can eat various foods worth 100,000 taels of silver in a month.
There is also the consumption of ordnance and ammunition, which apparently has nothing to do with military expenditures, because the military receives all military supplies directly from the Ministry of Industry for free without spending any money.
However, in order to produce these military supplies, the Ministry of Industry needs to purchase raw materials, hire craftsmen, workers, build factories, build equipment, etc.
When these costs are taken into account, the consumption of military supplies is very huge.
Even after putting aside the one-time expenses of building factories and building equipment, the Ministry of Industry's expenses are very scary.
The Ministry of Industry spent more than 60,000 taels of silver just on purchasing various raw materials in May, and it will be even more in June, mainly saltpeter, sulfur, iron materials, copper materials, lead materials, etc., which are directly related to Baoxiang. Strategic materials for military combat effectiveness.
The reason why so much money was spent was purely because the materials purchased by the Baoxiang Army were all extremely sensitive and absolutely controlled by the imperial court.
If it was revealed that these trading houses were selling these strategic materials to the Homeland Protection Army, I don't know how many people would lose their heads.
