Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 546 The Economic Logic of the Empire~
When camping,
The exhausted soldier repeatedly checked the cowhide map in his hand.

Shaking his head and lamenting:
"We can't go on like this. We'll never be able to catch Agui's tail."

Captain Bai Jianren was also lying there in a very ungraceful manner, chewing a piece of meat.

Asked casually:

"Then do you have any other ideas?"

"Take a detour. Go around Shunning Prefecture and block the Qing army's left side or front."

Bai Jianren was surprised and stared at the staff officer:

"How do you know the route of the Qing army?"

"Agui has only two choices. He can either go to Sichuan or Burma." The staff officer had clear thoughts. "To go to Sichuan, he has to take the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, which is steep and narrow, and most of the baggage must be abandoned. And according to intelligence, he and Sichuan Governor Sun Shiyi have always been at odds. So, he will definitely take the old road of Emperor Yongli."

……

The staff officer's detour plan is feasible in theory but difficult in practice.

The soldiers required to carry out the mission must be elite and resolute enough, and each of them must have strong feet that can climb mountains and cross rivers.

After discussing with his brothers, Bai Jianren decided that it was worth a try, as fortune and wealth can be achieved through risk.

The next day,

They received sufficient logistical supplies from the follow-up friendly forces.

When we were about to set out,

The latest military orders were delivered by express horse.

"Your Majesty has ordered that if Ah Gui wants to leave the country, our army will show mercy and follow him to ensure that he leaves the country and does not return to Yunnan."

"The 7th Corps is temporarily stationed in Yunnan to build border fortifications and closely monitor the 5th Qing-Myanmar War. It is not allowed to interfere."

The officers were stunned and the staff were surprised.

No matter how confused we are, Your Majesty's orders must be carried out.

then,

The 7th Corps immediately slowed down its pursuit and at the same time divided its forces to capture various counties in Yunnan and eliminate the remnants.

……

There was no Manchu city in Yunnan, and very few Eight Banners officers also followed Agui, so there was no "loyal and good people of the Qing Dynasty" at all.

As soon as the Wu army arrived, they immediately opened the city walls and knelt to welcome them.

When the war got to this point, even a fool could see clearly - the Qing Dynasty was finished.

In addition to those hereditary chieftains~
Although Wu Ting offered a clear price for surrender and there was a bloody precedent in western Hunan, less than half of the chieftains were willing to leave their tribes and move their families to Songjiang Prefecture to live the life of a wealthy man.

Unexpected, but reasonable.

6 days later,

A large number of civil servants moved into Guangxi, Yunnan, western Hunan and eastern Guizhou.

All the graduates of Dongshan Civil Service School were sold out. Even a few stray dogs strolling near the school followed the familiar students on the journey and squatted at the gate of the county government office. From then on, they were treated as high-ranking dogs and had no worries about food and drink.

……

Latest regulations:
Local prefectures and counties have five formal civil officials, one military officer, and five clerks.

The term of office is 4 years and must be transferred upon expiration.

however,
The number is far from enough.

The new civil servant seeds have not yet grown.

There are many pits and few carrots.

Under such circumstances, Li Yu selected more than 200 people below the rank of warrant officer from the army's list of meritorious soldiers and sent them out to fill the vacancies.

These people lack the ability to handle local affairs, but they are loyal enough.

When appointing officials, they were placed in frontier prefectures and counties as much as possible.

At the same time, he selected a number of clerks to serve as advisors to his shogunate to assist in handling miscellaneous affairs.

……

Li Yu once told his ministers:
In the future empire, as long as the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong can successfully promote the industrial revolution, and the small peasant economy in the four provinces of Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Henan is healthy and stable, the court can deal with any problem calmly.

As long as the other provinces do not rebel.

Even if the money and grain are in arrears every year, it will not cause any substantial impact.

The imperial court could fully accept the long-term "arrears of imperial grain" in these areas within a reasonable range and had no intention of demanding payment.

Not to mention the border counties~
The chief official does not need to have outstanding talents, he just needs to ensure order and stability under his rule.

……

This argument is based on two points:
The cost of taxation and the cost of using military forces.

To put it simply:
It costs 1 dan to collect 1 dan of unpaid grain (official salaries, transportation losses, and human energy consumption), which is quite uneconomical.

Once the people are forced to rebel, military funds will be wasted.

Instead of squeezing oil from stones, it is better to manage the above-mentioned 7 provinces well.

At the same time, they turned their attention overseas, colonizing Southeast Asia and dumping their products on the European continent.

……

When Li Yu was teaching at Dongshan Civil Service School, he emphasized:

There are only two things that are the foundation of an empire.

1. A stable and effective bureaucratic system.

Second, it is possible to smoothly and reasonably obtain financial and tax revenue from private activities.

If these two things go well, the empire will last forever.

One thing was destroyed, but another thing was saved, and the empire was able to maintain its inertia and continue to move forward.

……

Before leaving, the graduates were told that His Majesty advocated "ruling by doing nothing" and that when they arrived at the local areas, it would be better to rule by doing nothing rather than digging three feet underground.

There is no need to blame those who are in arrears with money and grain.

Write it down in black and white and record it in detail.

The creditor must not voluntarily give up his status as a creditor to ensure that the people will remember his kindness.

but,

We must never be lenient towards those who refuse to submit to our rule.

In case of emergency, local officials can organize armed forces on their own and report it afterwards. Any occasional violations will not be questioned.

In addition,

Clear requirements were set for the number of patrol officers in each state and county.

The number of patrol officers in provincial capitals should not exceed 500, in prefectural capitals should not exceed 200, and in county capitals should not exceed 100. Half of the patrol officers must be recruited locally.

It requires a clean background and a prosperous family.

Under 20 years old, physically fit, literate and able to write.

……

The other half of the patrol officers will try to be recruited from Guangdong Hakka people.

Northern Guangdong has a small land area, a large population and a harsh environment. Even if the mining ban is lifted, it cannot solve the fundamental problem.

In addition, due to the century-old resentment between the Hakka and Cantonese, it is difficult for the Hakka people to work and do business in the Pearl River Delta.

Li Yu weighed the pros and cons and decided to recruit a large number of Hakka youths into the patrol police and the army. In just one year, he recruited 15000 young people from northern Guangdong.

15000 families have one less mouth to feed but one more source of remittance income.

One positive and one negative, and you will escape from trouble immediately.

I wouldn’t say I’m rich, but at least I have enough food and clothing.

In the imperial blueprint planned by Li Yu, the Pearl River Delta region is very important, and its status is no less than that of Jiangnan.

Positioning is:
Industrial cluster + maritime trade hub + naval base.

to this end,

We must solve the livelihood problems of the Hakka people in northern Guangdong and eliminate hidden dangers in Guangdong.

The emperor's mind is deep, but not complicated.

The emperor has neither love nor hate, all he sees are the chess pieces and gains and losses on the board.

……

Tengchong.

A dynamic place name.

The main force of the expeditionary force led by Agui arrived here in a mighty manner.

The team expanded from 16 to 22 people. The extra 6 people were poor people who voluntarily followed with their elderly and children.

Begging for life!

Zhao Zhuangwen witnessed the significance of land to farmers in Wuchang.

Therefore,
He repeated his old tricks and persuaded Ah Gui to spread the word along the way:
Anyone who followed the expeditionary force south could get a share of land: soldiers could get 100 mu, and men could get 50 mu.

Simple and crude, the hook is salty and the bait is straight.

A simple slogan attracted countless people.

……

inside the account,

Ah Gui suddenly whispered:
"Mr. Zhao, there is something I don't understand."

"My Lord, I don't understand either."

The two looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

This is how smart people communicate, no need to explain everything, they understand immediately.

After all, the two were limited by the times. They would never have thought that the Wu Emperor deliberately let them go and borrowed Agui's knife to continue bleeding the Konbaung Dynasty, the little tyrant of Nanyang. For thousands of years, the monarchs of the Central Plains Dynasty have never looked at the land of Nanyang.

Useless and difficult to rule.

Epidemics, mosquitoes and extreme heat unique to the tropics result in non-combat casualties far greater than battlefield casualties.

The Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties all tried but gave up in the end.

How could a calculating merchant regime like the Ngo Dinh Kingdom be interested in the lands of the Konbaung Dynasty?

Agui even suspected that the Emperor of Wu would voluntarily give up Shaanxi, Gansu and the Western Regions.

……

In the big tent,
Attis, dressed in military uniform, rushed in:
"Report to my father, the chieftain of Mengyang has sent an envoy to protest."

"Bring it up."

A Han Chinese official walked into the tent with a letter in his hand.

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"Your humble servant greets His Majesty. Your army is stationed at the border and is causing trouble for the local people. We need an explanation. Your humble servant must remind His Majesty that the chieftain of Mengyang was appointed by the King of the Konbaung Dynasty and does not belong to the Qing state."

Ah Gui smiled:

"I am following the order of the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty to lead an army of 50 to attack Gong Bang."

"You will be given 10 breaths to decide whether to return to your roots or become a ghost in a foreign land."

……

Before he could finish his words, the executioner entered the tent.

The messenger looked ashen.
Is the Qing-Myanmar War about to start again?

Zhao Zhuangwen observed his expression and moved closer:

"Your Excellency, this time is different from the past. We will not leave this time."

The interpreter's face turned pale as he stared at Zhao Zhuangwen.

Zhao Zhuangwen leaned close to him and whispered:

"Wu's army drove us out of Yunnan. But we still have hundreds of thousands of troops, ready to take over Ava and rename it Nanjing. To be frank, if the Qing army can't beat Wu's army, can they beat you?"

The interpreter understood instantly and fell to his knees.

"I hope those who have lost their way will come to their senses and return to their roots."

"Oh, sir, please get up quickly."

……

That night,

The envoy, who knew the current situation, sent a letter back to inform Mengyang Tusi that everything was normal, the Qing army had withdrawn, and paid 1000 taels of silver as compensation.

The next day it was clear, and he led the way as a guide.

Agui personally led the elite cavalry of the Qing army to raid the chieftain's location, captured the leader first, and killed 2000 elite chieftain soldiers.

The Tusi family was caught off guard and was wiped out.

after that,

The Qing army divided its troops into three routes and swept across the Mengyang chieftain states from north to south.

In every battle, generals led their heavy armored infantry as vanguards. They were extremely fierce and their morale was high.

Agui also persuaded the generals to agree to distribute the seized gold and silver to the soldiers, and to distribute the livestock, cloth, and women to the civilians who followed the army.

……

He told everyone present meaningfully:

"From now on, we are all on the same boat, regardless of whether we are Manchus or Han Chinese, or whether we are military or civilians."

"Don't repeat the old Nanming affairs."

All the civil and military officials in the tent nodded.

Officials above the level of Qianzong and County Magistrate killed a white horse in public and swore an oath of blood.

After entering the territory of Mubang Tusi, the expeditionary force raised the slogan of "acting on behalf of heaven and punishing injustice" and captured cities and territories along the way, like a dragon entering the river.

There are many factors:

First, after Agui became a vassal in Yunnan, he reorganized the army in an effective way.

Second, Agui has prestige, strong personal charm, is fair in his work, and is respected by his subordinates.

Third, the expeditionary force was at the end of its rope and was extremely vicious.

……

The Wu army calmly gathered refugees and forced prisoners to build bastions at various passes in Tengchong.

Named "Tengchong Defense Line".

Simultaneously,

50 miles behind the defense line, large quantities of food, fodder and military equipment were stored.

Two infantry regiments of the 7th Corps were stationed in Tengchong, reinforced by three field artillery companies, one heavy artillery company, one engineering company, and the 2st Expeditionary Army.

The remaining troops of the corps were stationed in Kunming and northern Yunnan to intimidate Sichuan.

In the southwest, the smoke of war gradually settled.

The people have a good impression of the new court.

The first thing the county magistrates at all levels did upon taking office was to post notices to inform the villagers: all previous debts would be cancelled. What the people owed to the Qing Dynasty would be written off.

Promulgated a new land tax and corvee system.

A tax of 40 jin is levied on each acre of land in spring and autumn. Each household is required to provide one laborer every year to perform labor service for 15 days, but they are not allowed to leave the county.

……

Li Yu instructed the Agriculture Bureau to take on the heavy responsibility of collecting land taxes from all over the country, and the director Fan Zhongmo was ecstatic.

If he performs well, he will have a chance to become Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock.

He developed two collection models.

60. In provinces with superior agricultural conditions, tax is levied twice a year, at kilograms per mu each time.

Second, in provinces with unsatisfactory agricultural conditions, taxes are levied twice a year, at 40 kilograms per mu each time.

The so-called first category covers the following:
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shandong, Hebei

The second category covers:
Guangdong, Fujian (the officials belong to the first category), Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, Western Regions

……

In Category I areas, sufficient grain must be collected.

In Category II areas, a blind eye can be turned as long as the arrears rate does not exceed 6%.

After the Agricultural Bureau collects grain, it must be handed over to the granaries directly under the State and County Grain Bureau for safekeeping and a warehousing document must be issued.

The director of the Food Agency is from Hu Xueyu's faction and will not cover up for Fan Zhongmo.

This creates a constraint.

In addition,

It also stipulated that some special areas did not have to pay grain, but could pay in cash instead.

For example, southern Anhui, southern Zhejiang, and Fujian.

These are the main tea-growing areas, and grain production is very low.

……

Li Yu also had a very troublesome and troublesome matter that had remained unresolved for a long time.

That is - measuring the land in the world!
How many fields did the empire have? And who did they belong to?
The water is deep enough for an adult blue whale to dive into.

When the army started,
He devised a trick to quickly clear the fields in the Jiangnan area and pulled all the hidden fields of the gentry and wealthy families in the eight prefectures and one state in Jiangnan out of the water, thus ensuring a stable supply of military rations.

Today, a repeat of the past is unlikely.

The situation is different.

Measuring the land is imperative, but it requires a lot of grassroots tolerance and a suitable opportunity.

……

The land issues in the South and the North are very different.

By using both soft and hard tactics, he solved the land annexation problem in Jiangnan to a great extent.

now,

There was no shortage of large factory owners in Jiangnan with thousands of workers, but there were no big landlords like Xu Jie.

The Fan family of Gusu took the lead in selling all the clan land, leaving only the mulberry fields.

The emerging civil and military officials did not dare to buy land.

Instead, they invested the money in mulberry and tea planting, or in purchasing high-quality shops.

……

In the north, land annexation is very serious.

After the Qing army entered the pass, they used force to occupy nearly one-tenth of the fertile land in the entire north. The enclosed land was divided into imperial farms, royal farms, banner farms, etc., with many names~
The Shandong Yanshenggong family owns more than 100 million acres of land.

The Kong family is just a microcosm of the many officials and gentry in the north.

Li Yu privately expressed to several important officials:
The empire needed a large and healthy peasant economy.

During the Northern Expedition, a vast amount of land must be released and then sold to landless or land-poor farmers.

Free?

That is impossible.

It will take more than good intentions to reshape a vast ancient empire.

The initial plan is:
The imperial court cleared and took over vast tracts of land in the north, recruited landless farmers to cultivate the land, and the two sides agreed to a five-year installment payment method, transferring field skins and field bones at a low price to mass-produce self-employed farmers.

(End of this chapter)