Cutting 1719

Chapter 307 Abolition of the Green Camp
In the middle of the night, the Military Aircraft Office was quiet. This newly established institution was set up by Yongzheng on the grounds that the cabinet would leak secrets outside the Taihe Gate. It was quite close to the Hall of Mental Cultivation where Yongzheng lived daily Near, so that Yongzheng can give orders.

Due to the new establishment of the Military Aircraft Department, its office space is rather shabby and shabby. There is not even a government office, only a few simple wooden houses, which are called value houses.Manchu and Hanwu are divided according to duties. Manchu documents are handled by Manchu Junji Zhangjing, and Chinese is handled by Han Junji Zhangjing. However, there are usually no people in the Manchuria, while the Hanwu is relatively busy.

Two military planes, Zhang Jing, dressed in seventh-rank official uniforms, sat in the duty room, their faces turned blue from the cold. The heavy curtains could not block the cold wind outside, but it was too difficult to light a brazier in this simple duty room. It won't be allowed, so I can only rely on my righteousness to keep out the cold.

The Military Aircraft Office will arrange people to check the rooms every day. Due to the extremely cold weather, only two military aircraft, Han Zhangjing, are arranged to be on duty in the Military Aircraft Office these days. The two people who are on duty today are Peng Yuanji and Zhou Jingzhu. He was in his early thirties, at the prime of his life.

"Boom!—Boom! Boom!"

There was a sound of clappers that were slow and fast, and then the eunuch who was on watch outside said loudly: "At the third watch, the sky is dry and the things are dry, be careful of the candles."

Hearing the sound of clappers outside, Peng Yuanji couldn't help yawning greatly. He picked up his teacup and planned to take a sip, but found that the tea was already cold, so he smiled wryly and said, "Since I arrived at the military plane, the days are getting worse every day. .”

Zhou Jingzhu, who was lying on the shore, was a little older, and said with a smile: "It would be a blessing for us 'little classmates' to write down 'peace and peace' every day. As for this bit of suffering, let's endure it Bar."

The military aircraft Zhang Jing who is on duty in the Military Aircraft Department is called the "Old Bangong" with older qualifications, and the "Little Bangong" with lesser qualifications.The old class is in charge of formulating edicts, and the junior class is responsible for general file work. Peng Yuanji and Zhou Jingzhu are such small class members. During the daily shift, if nothing happens, they will write in the duty log. There is nothing to do in peace', and if there is something to write, there is something in peace. '

While the two were chatting, a courier hurriedly rushed to the outside of the military engine room, but before he came in, he loudly said: "Eight hundred li urgent delivery!"

When Peng Yuanji and Zhou Jingzhu heard that the urgent delivery had arrived, they knew it was no small matter, so they hurried out to have a look, and found that the messenger had passed out on the ground, and the urgent delivery was in the sealed box with a seal on it.

It was a matter of confidentiality. The two dared not act rashly, so they left Peng Yuanji to guard the secret box at the military plane, while Zhou Jingzhu went to Prince Yi's mansion to invite Minister of Military Discipline, Prince Yi Yunxiang.

After about half an hour, Prince Yi hurriedly rode a sedan chair to the door of the military engine room.He felt a little uneasy, and kept turning the wrench in his hand.

Yun Xiang is the Chief Minister of Military Aircraft, so he can open and read the urgent delivery. He opened the secret box, took out the booklet from inside, and read it carefully, but the more he looked at it, the more livid his face became, and finally he slapped him hard. on the table.

"I raised Hanchen generously, and this is how Hanchen repays me?"

It was not Yunxiang who said this, but Yongzheng.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, all the ministers from military aircraft, the six ministries and the nine ministers, and the ministries of the Eight Banners have all gathered here. Emperor Yongzheng's face turned pale. When he learned yesterday that Hangzhou had surrendered under the conspiracy of Sun Wencheng and Li Fu When he returned to the Han army, he almost avoided his anger. Thanks to the power of the elixir, Yongzheng was relieved.

It's not that the fall of Hangzhou and Zhejiang is so unacceptable, but that the successive betrayals of Han officials have completely stabbed the sensitivity in Yongzheng's heart. He can no longer trust the Han people, but he has to use the Han people.

Hearing Yongzheng's exclamation, all the officials couldn't help being taken aback, the word "Hanchen" had already nakedly expressed Yongzheng's thoughts.

"The Man-Han family, the Man-Han family, but how can the Han people become a family if they betrayed the Qing Dynasty so much?"

Yongzheng was a little heartbroken, "In the past, I thought that people like Wu Cunli were just a minority, but now it seems that the whole Zhejiang, from the governor Li Fu to the Hangzhou weaving Sun Wencheng, are all shameless officials! This so-called The Manhan family is just wishful thinking!"

Seeing that Yongzheng has begun to expand on this issue, Zhang Tingyu knows that Yongzheng is deliberately making use of the problem. When he was preparing to train the Eight Banners New Army, Zhang Tingyu bit the bullet and gave him the blame Go back, but now Yongzheng has found a reason to attack.

The faces of all the ministers lying on the ground were different. The knowledgeable ministers like Xu Yuanmeng were extremely anxious, while the ones like King Naersu of Pingjun who had no good looks towards the Han people had a look of resentment.As for the Hanchens, they were terrified and knelt on the ground without saying a word.As for whether they were really panicked or not, God only knows!

Except for those hardcore Han Eight Banners, which Han officials are truly committed to the Qing Dynasty?To put it bluntly, when the ship of the Qing Dynasty was really about to sink, they jumped on the ship of the Fuhan Army without blinking their eyes!
Everyone knows this clearly, but no one dares to bring it up. If they really want to say it, can the Qing Dynasty survive?But now Yongzheng mercilessly punctured it directly.

Xu Yuanmeng was very anxious, and hurriedly came out and said: "Your Majesty, this Manchu family is an ancestral system and should not be changed lightly. Wu Cunli, Li Fu, and Sun Wencheng are just speculators, so we must not make mistakes because of them." You have missed the loyalty of the Han people in the world!"

It's funny to say it, Xu Yuanmeng, a Manchu, is talking about how loyal the Han people are here, it's the funniest thing in the world, but Xu Yuanmeng has to say it, he has to say it.

Yongzheng snorted coldly, and his attitude softened a bit. What he said just now was nothing more than to warn the Han people not to go too far. Now that Xu Yuanmeng came out to intercede, he immediately stepped down and began to reveal himself. real purpose.

"The previous incident should be taken as a warning. The Eight Banners New Army is the force that my Qing Dynasty needs to rely on. I think that the Eight Banners New Army should not only train, but also practice hard! As for the shortage of money and food, maybe the green battalion can be abolished. What do you ministers think?"

When Tu Qiong met, no one spoke, only Zhang Tingyu and Xu Yuanmeng looked at each other, and both saw the worry in each other's eyes.

Not only Zhang and Xu were worried, but even Prince Yi Yunxiang felt that something was wrong, and said: "My majesty, I think that the Eight Banners new army will naturally have to train, but whether the green battalion will be suspended or if it will be abolished rashly?" Green Camp, I am afraid it will lead to turmoil in the world.”

Everyone has read history books, so of course they understand that layoffs are a high-risk thing, like when Li Zicheng, a postman of the Ming Dynasty lost his job, he quickly took up the profession of rebellion, which eventually led to the complete demise of the Ming Dynasty. Only then did I pick up a big peach for Manchuria.

However, Narsu, the king of Pingjun, jumped out. He was in charge of training the Eight Banners New Army. Naturally, he was happy to see the green battalion being abolished, so he said loudly: "My majesty, I think the abolition of the green battalion is really a good deed. After all, the new army The amount of silver that needs to be consumed for editing and training is really unusual—”

"If the Qing Dynasty wants to train a new army of one hundred thousand and eight banners, it needs 35 pieces of foreign guns alone, and each piece of silver is 350 taels of silver. Foreign guns, our current gun shop is not enough, we need to expand and recruit manpower, about 600 million taels of silver is needed in the front, and another 100 million taels of silver is needed every year to maintain it. As for artillery, according to this calculation, it also needs 800 million taels of silver , the two add up, and the silver alone will cost 400 million taels. This is not counting the military pay, military uniforms, and logistics supplies. If they add up, I am afraid it will not be less than 3000 million taels!"

3000 million taels of silver is by no means a number that can be taken lightly. Just like last year, the annual income of the Qing Dynasty was only 3000 million taels of silver. This was based on the premise that Jiangnan was in hand. It is possible to cut it in half. In this case, what will be used to bear the current 3000 million taels?
Of course, there is a big problem with Narsu's algorithm. It seems that the Fuhan army now has 750 troops, but only 300 million taels are used, and the subsequent expenses are only 400 to [-] million per year. About two, the reason for this is not only the military merit field system, but also the administrative efficiency and integrity of both parties.

Just like the flintlock muskets of the Fu Han Army, before it was improved, it only needed seven taels of silver. Later, although it was upgraded and became a musket made in Hanyang, the performance and stability have been greatly improved, but the silver cost has only increased to About 15 taels, and after large-scale production, it can be reduced to 12 taels to 13 taels.

It is self-evident how much water is in the matchlock guns of the 35 taels of the Qing Dynasty, but fortunately, this new type of musket was endorsed by Westerners, and Yongzheng also went to watch it in person, so it is still in my heart. It's more reassuring, but if he knows the quality and cost of the muskets of the Fuhan Army, he will probably vomit blood in anger.

After talking about the money, everyone stopped talking. If the new army is to be trained at this time, the old army must be chopped off. Otherwise, even if the entire Qing Dynasty is wiped out, it will not be able to afford so much expenses. .

Zhang Tingyu knew that Yongzheng had made up his mind, so he stopped insisting now, and sighed: "The food and salaries of the green camp were not high at first, but now the Qing's former green camp has lost more than 20 people, and now there are only There are only more than 30 people. The total annual food and salary of these 30 people is less than 1000 million taels of silver."

Speaking of it, the treatment of the green camp is really bad. The horse soldiers are given two taels of silver a month, the soldiers are paid one tael a month, and the guards are paid one tael a month. The key is that this is the food rate established in the early years of Shunzhi The standard has not changed since then. During the Kangxi period, due to the low price of rice, the family life could be maintained, but what is the situation now?

Without the rice grains in Jiangnan and Huguang, the price of grain is about to rise to the level of four taels and one stone. It is not enough to support the family, let alone support yourself.

However, Yongzheng didn't want to let go of such a small amount of money between his teeth at this time. He nodded slightly and said: "The green battalion is weak and can't fight, and it is useless. Abolish it."

"Of course, reducing expenditure is not enough. The Qing Dynasty also needs to open up sources of income in order to raise enough money."

Yongzheng pondered for a while, but looked at the ministers again, of course, the most important thing was Zhang Tingyu. After all, who made Zhang Tingyu the Minister of the Household Department?
In fact, when it comes to how to get money, there is actually no way. The lack of money in the Qing Dynasty does not mean the lack of money in the world. At least the showdown and donations have not yet begun. It is nothing more than a question of who will open the mouth. It will also be an excellent choice for taking the blame in the future.

"The slave thinks that maybe we can persuade the merchants to donate and we can levy three additional rates, or we can solve the crisis." Zhang Tingyu knelt on the ground and said calmly.

These two methods are actually very common tricks. They are nothing more than asking for money from two groups of people. Donations are from big businessmen, and the increase of three rates is naturally asking farmers for money, especially the increase of three rates. In fact, it is to pick up the policies of the late Ming Dynasty again, blow off the dust on them and use them again.

What is the three rates?That is to say, the Liao pay, the suppressing pay and the training pay were all measures taken by the imperial court to quench thirst by drinking poison in the late Ming Dynasty. Among them, the increase in Liao pay was due to the invasion of the Houjin, the urgent war in Liaodong, and the lack of military pay; the suppressing pay was to raise military expenses for suppressing peasant uprisings; Training pay is used to suppress peasant uprisings and train soldiers, and it is also known as the three major levies among the people.

After Manchuria entered the customs, the regent Dorgon was well aware of the disadvantages of the three salaries, and claimed: "The previous government was bad in government, and the worst thing was to increase the Liao's salaries, so that the people were poor and robbed, and then increased the salaries, and then paid for them." Practice on each side, and then increase the training rate. But the three rates are several times the regular offering, and the people are tired, fat and marrow scraped, and the distant ones are more than [-] years, and the nearer ones are more than ten years. .” Then the three rates were abolished.

However, in the Shunzhi period, the Qing Dynasty did not implement the policy of abolishing the three rates, and the levy was still unchanged. Among them, the nine per cent silver in the Liao rate was soon included in the "Complete Book of Fu and Service" as the official amount of the land tax It is collected, that is to say, until today, the Liao pay has never stopped.

Of course Yongzheng knew the disadvantages of the three rates. If the levy was increased at this time, it would really force the flames of war to spread everywhere. Therefore, he thought about it and felt that it was better to ask for money from the merchants. Even if he rejected the proposal to increase the three rates, Instead, he agreed to find a businessman to donate.

But here comes the problem again. Although the merchants of the Qing Dynasty are all fat pigs, it doesn’t mean they are stupid. What if they are asked to scrape oil at this time, and they all run to the Fuhan Army?

Zhang Tingyu knows that since the establishment of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Fuhan Army, many northern businessmen have gone to Jiangnan. This is not because they have Han people in their hearts, or because Jiangnan is not harsh on businessmen. , and then open the donation, it is estimated that the remaining businessmen are afraid to run away.

"The slave thinks that it might be possible to mine and develop Manchuria."

(End of this chapter)