In the summer and June of the 35th year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue once again held an imperial meeting on the development of Nanyang in Jinling City.
However, unlike previous meetings where military issues occupied a large amount of space, the main topic in this meeting was immigration and development.
After all, with the active surrender of the Kingdom of Aceh, there is no indigenous political power in the entire Nanyang region, let alone large-scale military resistance.
In the next few years, military operations in the entire Nanyang region will be dominated by security operations. This kind of security operations is normal and is mainly responsible for the local garrison C-class garrison and militia forces.
As for the regular troops, the first-class divisions simply regrouped in several strategic locations. For example, the eighth division, the first-class division, completed its military combat missions in Myanmar and was stationed at the Dagon Port military base.
The 14th Division was transferred back to Singapore.
After all, these two first-class divisions are the only first-class divisions of the Great Chu Empire in the entire Nanyang region. The area they are responsible for is not just Siam or Myanmar, but the entire Nanyang region.
Therefore, these two divisions need to be in a state of combat readiness that can rush to any Nanyang region at any time. In this case, naturally they cannot be stationed inland, but need to be stationed in coastal military ports that are convenient for maneuver.
However, the Second Class Division may participate in some subsequent security operations. For example, the 36th Division is currently stationed in several important cities and transportation thoroughfares in Siam such as Bangkok. It is responsible for suppressing Siam and surrounding areas.
The 72nd Division transferred from Yunnan was stationed in Siva City. After the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar was attacked by the Chu army, it voluntarily abandoned its capital Awa City (a suburb of Mandalay) during the war and established a Before the evacuation, they fortified the walls and cleared the country, and took the initiative to burn down a large number of buildings in the city. After the Chu army occupied this place, they did not build a new city on its ruins.
Well, the governor of Myanmar is not based here either. It is actually in Dagon Port in the south. However, Ava City is still a strategically important city located in the center of Myanmar.
After the army stationed here before, it garrisoned on the west side of the ruins of Ava City and established a military fortress city. The city was also called Shiva City.
The headquarters of the 72nd Division is in Siwa City. Of course, it is impossible for such a large 72nd Division to have all its troops in Siwa City. In fact, there are also defenses in several surrounding cities.
Generally speaking, the 72nd Division is responsible for the main defense of the hinterland of Myanmar, and is also the main regular army unit facing the Bengal direction of the Mughal Empire.
To the west of Myanmar is the Bengal region, which was annexed by the Mughal Empire nearly a hundred years ago.
In the southwest region of Myanmar, there is the Kingdom of Arakan. However, this kingdom has long existed in name only. It was personally defeated by the Chu army more than ten years ago. It was subsequently invaded many times by the Kingdom of Myanmar. In the end, Arakan There was only an extremely small area left in the Qian Kingdom, and most of its coastal areas were acquired by the Chu Kingdom. The Chu Empire used these coastal colonies, including Chittagong, plus part of the Bengal coast obtained from the Mughal Empire. area, especially around the mouth of the Ganges River.
Eventually the governorship of Bengal was established, with its headquarters in Chittagong.
Previously, the governor of Bangladesh was responsible for Myanmar affairs. However, after taking Myanmar, the Chu Empire had officially established the position of governor of Myanmar not long ago, and was based in Dagon, Myanmar.
It can be seen from the deployment of military personnel of the Chu Empire Army in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Siam that the Chu Empire Army believes that it is impossible for any large-scale war to break out there.
The Army transferred the Eighth Division to Dagon for garrison, thinking that if there is a need in Bangladesh or even the Indian Peninsula in the future, the Eighth Division, a first-class division, can also be sent there nearby.
Even the Army is still considering whether to move the Eighth Division's garrison further west and garrison it in Chittagong, where the Bangladesh Governor is stationed.
It's just that the infrastructure in Chittagong is not very good for the time being, and there is no war there. The most important thing is that the 8th Division has just fought in Myanmar for more than a year, and at least it needs to rest and recuperate. After a while, he will be sent to the border again.
Therefore, the division's westward transfer has been put on hold for the time being, but... the Eighth Division will definitely be used in the direction of Bangladesh and even India in the future.
Today's Army has never thought of continuing to use the Eighth Division, an elite first-class division, in areas such as Myanmar.
For local security operations, C-class garrison divisions and militiamen are enough. If that doesn't work, some B-class standing divisions are still in charge, so there is no need for expensive elite troops like A-class divisions.
The Da Chu Empire spends so much money every year to support these first-class combat readiness divisions, not just for them to fight for public security and play petty troubles.
Nowadays, the Great Chu Empire's use of these first-class combat readiness divisions basically does not move, and if they move, they rush to destroy the country and the clan.
This was the case when the Eighth and Fourteenth Divisions destroyed Burma and Siam, and the new mixed camp under the North American Sixteenth Division destroyed a tribe of thousands of North American natives.
If they were not rushing to destroy the country, then these first-class divisions might as well stay in the hinterland of the country to train and garrison.
Therefore, the more than twenty combat-ready first-class divisions (infantry and cavalry) in the Chu Empire are basically in this situation. Some are stationed in strategic places in the hinterland of the country, such as Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, Hantian, Jiujiang, Guangzhou, Songjiang, Tianjin, Shenyang.
Others are stationed in border areas, such as Central Asia, Siberia, and Southeast Asia.
A small number are stationed in overseas territories, such as India, North America, and Africa.
However, in the true sense, there are actually very few first-class divisions in overseas territories... Currently, in the vast country of Africa, there is only one battalion of first-class division troops stationed in Maputo... Well, this battalion is dedicated to the local gold. , acting as a strategic protection force.
As for India and West Asia, in such a large area, the combined strength of all first-class divisions is only two... and a mixed battalion is also assigned to garrison in Maputo, Africa!
On the other hand, there are more first-class divisions in Central Asia and Siberia. There are four first-class cavalry divisions alone. This is mainly because the local cavalry is mainly used for combat, and as for the cavalry units, most of the cavalry can fight. The troops are all A-class cavalry divisions. If a B-class cavalry division is used, its mobility is too much inferior to that of the A-class cavalry division.
The main difference between the first-class divisions and the second-class divisions in the Da Chu Empire was the difference in the number of mules and horses attached, which resulted in differences in mobility and cost.
The first-class cavalry division usually consists of heavy cavalry riding three horses alone and light cavalry riding two horses alone. It is also equipped with a large number of carriages, fast-moving cavalry artillery, and fast-moving logistics troops. Its overall mobility is very powerful... It has independent combat capabilities. , and even siege capabilities.
The Army's requirements for the first-class cavalry division are: to be able to quickly run 150 kilometers alone and then launch an attack on the enemy's target!
The reason why it is one hundred and fifty kilometers...that is because the Chu army has discovered in actual combat that when the troops leave the transportation nodes such as ports and train stations,
The army relies on its own logistics troops and uses horse-drawn carriage transportation to maintain supplies. The supply limit is about 150 kilometers!
This one hundred and fifty kilometers must be on flat terrain with certain roads.
If the terrain is complex and transportation is inconvenient, then this distance will be further reduced.
Once the supply line exceeds this distance, the front-line troops' own logistics troops will not be enough, and they can only rely on organizing more professional baggage troops in the rear, or simply recruiting civilians to transport supplies.
That’s why there is a standard of 150 kilometers of attack distance!
In fact, many seemingly ordinary data about war are summaries drawn from actual combat, not just patted on the head.
This is the distance of the first-class cavalry division's attack of 150 kilometers.
The first-class cavalry division responsible for this kind of attack actually has nothing to do with traditional cavalry units. They all pull artillery and bring a lot of baggage to the battlefield.
Moreover, the first-class cavalry division actually does not charge on horseback in most battles. Instead, it quickly maneuvers to the target and then dismounts and fights on foot... After all, the front is the enemy's city or position. You can't rush up on horseback to cut down the city wall. no!
Such a first-class cavalry division of the Great Chu Empire, in more accurate military terms, should be: a fast mobile force!
This is why the Class A Cavalry Division is so expensive... In order to quickly run for 150 kilometers, and maintain the ability to fight independently and even attack fortresses, and to maintain a certain supply self-sustainability... this requires There are too many horses.
However, for the second-class cavalry division, there are not so many requirements. The second-class cavalry division is basically a single man and one horse, and does not have the ability to fight independently, let alone the ability to run long distances. In fact, this kind of second-class cavalry division is the only It is more in line with the definition of modern cavalry troops.
However, in the vast and sparsely populated areas of Central Asia and Siberia, this second-class cavalry is not very useful. After all, the range of activities is very limited, and it does not have the ability to fight independently over long distances.
This is why the independent cavalry units in Central Asia and Siberia are generally first-class cavalry divisions.
However, this special situation is only limited to Central Asia and Siberia. If it is in the Southeast Asia region, this situation will not happen.
In fact, the Chu army in the Nanyang region did not even have independent cavalry units, but only division-affiliated cavalry units in each infantry division.
After all, the terrain and environment are different, and the needs for arms are also different.
Now, there is no need for any professional independent cavalry troops. In this kind of normal security operations, ordinary C-class garrison troops or even militiamen are enough.
After all, when the Chu army was engaged in normal public security operations, they would not engage in long-distance raids or carry out central blooms deep into the hinterland where the natives gathered.
The Chu army's normal public security operations have always been very conservative, that is, gradually moving outward from the immigrant settlements...
Evict a place, occupy a place, immigrate a place!
Then repeat the process.
As for the areas far away from the immigrant settlements, the Chu Empire generally doesn't care much, let alone rashly dispatching troops into them... Unless some indigenous government appears in the area and builds a formal large-scale organized army, but at this time Often it is not the C-class divisions and militia that are dispatched, but the B-class division usually mobilizes the main force to press forward and directly knock down the opponent.
Naturally, this kind of normal public security operation cannot be discussed repeatedly in the imperial meeting. After Luo Zhixue casually gave a few instructions to the army, he turned the topic to immigration development.
If you want to turn the huge Nanyang region into the hinterland of the empire, military control is only the beginning, and a large population is the core foundation.
However, the Chu Empire actually had a small population in the Nanyang region. Even in the most developed Malacca Province, the current total population is only a million...
As of the summer of the 35th year of Chengshun, the Chu Empire was in Nanyang, including Hue Province, Thang Long Province, Siam Province, Malacca Province, Myanmar Province, Luzon Province, Borneo, Banten Province (Java Island, East Indies), Dongtan Province (Sumatra), plus a directly governed Australia.
Including the above-mentioned regions, the total population is only more than three million, and the population is mainly concentrated in Malacca Province and Luzon Province. The population in other places is not large.
Such a large area has a total population of just over three million, which is obviously not enough.
We must know that in later generations, this large area can support a total population of more than 600 million, which is almost half of the Chinese region.
According to this ratio, there are currently more than 400 million people in the mainland area of the Chu Empire. If the Nanyang region is fully developed, the population it can support can be over 100 million at least.
In this imperial meeting, many topics discussed were actually related to this population.
How to make the local area host more people from the Chu Empire?
Officials from the Ministry of Water Resources first proposed the core solution, which is to increase the local population carrying capacity and feed more Chu people, so large-scale water conservancy facility construction in Nanyang is indispensable. .
It's just that, although everyone agrees that water conservancy facilities should be built in the local area, the officials of the Ministry of Water Resources are too ambitious. They often talk about water conservancy investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, and then the cabinet officials are very unhappy.
How can you, the person in charge of a weak yamen, have the courage to ask for hundreds of millions of yuan in funding with just one mouthful?
The financial budget of the Dachu Empire was limited. In addition to military expenditures and royal expenditures, the funds that the cabinet could use were also limited, and most of them had to be used for domestic expenditures in various aspects.
Such as various agricultural subsidies, water conservancy construction, education expenses, some industrial and commercial support, etc.
Finally, there is the indispensable funding for the administration itself... Rule itself also requires costs. This large number of officials cannot be let go. They all need salaries and office funds.
After calculating this, there is enough money to be spent domestically, but there is not much money that can be used for special funds for the development of Nanyang.
Some people said that national bonds could be issued for special funds, but others refuted this.
There are already too many official bonds issued by the empire under various names, such as railway bonds, various construction bonds... Although these bonds have different names, overall they are still national bonds.
You can't just ignore the railway bonds issued by the Railway Corporation, which are corporate bonds in name... Everyone in the world knows that the Railway Corporation just hangs a company name... The supervision of the Railway Corporation, that starts from The second grade...is equivalent to the grade of a provincial governor.
When financial institutions and ordinary people buy railway bonds, they trust not the railway company itself, but the imperial government behind the railway company!
Enough of these various government bonds have been issued, and issuing additional bonds will cause damage to the financial health of the empire.
In the end, we discussed and discussed... A lot of various plans were made, but the funds required for various plans were nowhere to be found.
Luo Zhixue was mentally prepared for this.
With the empire's economic foundation, while maintaining rapid development and construction in all aspects of the country, it is already reaching its limit to support a large-scale development of the Northeast.
If large-scale development is carried out in the Nanyang region, the empire's economic foundation will not be able to bear it.
So at the end of the discussion, we decided, if we don’t have the money, we should give some policies to various places in Southeast Asia.
What policy?
Other ordinary policies are not easy to implement, and some policies that are too extreme are unrealistic. After much deliberation, we can only provide some local tax relief policies.
Especially agricultural taxes that attract immigrants and increase the local population.
After careful deliberation, it was decided to grant a five-year agricultural tax exemption and a three-year agricultural tax halving policy to newly developed areas in the Nanyang region, that is, places where there were no previous immigrant settlements.
At the same time, tax exemptions and exemptions will be provided to some local agriculture-related industries.
In short, it is impossible for various places in Nanyang to take money out of the pockets of the Imperial Capital. The only thing the Imperial Capital can do is to collect less tax locally within a certain time limit.
But even so, it is of great strategic significance to the development of various places in Nanyang!
In particular, many businessmen have keenly discovered that some industries can even operate tax-free for many years in some areas of Nanyang through this series of Nanyang support policies.
For example, Siam Bangkok Province has a series of tax incentives for the rubber processing industry. From the national and provincial levels to the local prefecture and county levels, all tax exemptions and exemptions at all levels are calculated. The final tax is close to zero. If it meets the Under certain conditions, you can even get local subsidies in return...
And the tax incentives last for five years.
After this situation was discovered by those rubber companies, in August of the 35th year of Chengshun, which was the first month of the implementation of a series of preferential policies, more than 50 rubber factories were established in Bangkok... Almost all large-scale rubber companies have chosen to set up new factories here.
This made several other cities with rubber industry layout very unhappy. They thought that Bangkok had gone too far, and they even filed a lawsuit with Jinling.
I have to say that this was something Jinling did not expect... However, this was the result that the Siam governor authorities had expected and tried their best to achieve!
People would rather the rubber processing industry earn no tax, or even subsidize the tax, but also support the rubber processing industry, which will indirectly drive the development of the rubber planting industry and other related industries.
You laugh at Zhang Yulong, the governor of Siam, for being stupid. He doesn't collect taxes and even pays you back... But Zhang Yulong, the governor of Siam, laughs at you for being so naive!
It’s a pity that not long after this incident came out, it attracted the attention of Jinling, and it didn’t take long to stop the subsidy policy for the rubber processing industry in Bangkok... Mainly because they were worried that other places would follow the same example and reverse it. There is vicious competition for money.
However, for the dozens of rubber processing companies that have settled in Bangkok, their preferential policies have been documented... There is no way to change this... The imperial officials still want to face it. It is impossible to say that the preferential policies were given today and canceled tomorrow. .
This has also led to dozens of rubber companies in Bangkok having tax exemptions and even subsidy policies for up to five years.
However, almost all large-scale rubber processing companies across the country are included, and there is no issue of unfair competition among companies, so it is acquiesced.
This special situation has greatly strengthened the development of Bangkok's local rubber processing industry!
(End of chapter)
