There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Jiazhou Prefecture Government Office, Governor's Mansion.

Lin Feng is convening a military and political meeting after returning to Jiazhou to discuss development strategies after the peace talks.

Today’s meeting only notified the departments of the Governor’s Office, including Secretary Lin Jiakang, Staff Department Wang Qin, Town and Fu Department Fang Tiezhu, Logistics Department Li Wanxiang, Civil Affairs Department Su Shunian and Intelligence Department Guo Zheng, as well as the main staff of each department and Jiazhou Zhizhou Zhang Yingjie attended.

After everyone sat down, Lin Feng first introduced the situation of the peace talks with Sun Chuanting in Wubao County. Such a big matter should be made known to the backbone.

"My Lord Governor, I also agree with the peace talks with the Qin Army at this time. The Zhenming Army is very capable. The most important thing is that we have a complete pension system so that the soldiers will fight without the worry of looking back.

But this pension system is also very expensive. A fallen soldier needs fifty taels of pension. I just listened to the introduction from the adults. We lost seven to eight hundred soldiers in the battle of Fort Wu. The death pension alone requires four thousand taels of silver. Plus the daily military expenses, the financial aspect is really overwhelmed.

If we fight to the end with the Qin army and just pay pensions and military salaries, our finances will go bankrupt. "Su Shunnian was the first to agree. He is a big fan of Lin Feng and naturally follows him without any bottom line. Of course, the financial issues he considers also exist objectively.

"The Qin Army is indeed one of the most powerful armies of the imperial court. A large number of new recruits from our Zhenming Army have not yet been trained. If we fight to the end with the Qin Army at this time, our losses will definitely be heavy. Our troops will not be able to turn over, and we will easily be defeated by other forces. Take advantage of the situation." Wang Qin also analyzed and agreed.

"I agree that there is another important factor in negotiating peace with the imperial court now, which is that in August and September, the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty will bring in the bandits from Datong. We and the imperial court are regarded as internal conflicts among the Han people, while we and the Tatars are ethnic conflicts. This conflict is greater than The conflict between us and the imperial court. To put it simply, if we face the Tatars and the imperial court at the same time, who should we fight first?

My choice is always to fight the Tatars first. The Tatars openly raped, killed, and looted the Han people in the Central Plains without any bottom line. They did all kinds of evil. The court always knew how to cover it up and would not allow them to openly kill people for no reason. That's the main difference. "Lin Feng added.

"Yes, as the old saying goes, those who are not of our race will have different intentions. Especially the Houjin Tatars, who are very barbaric and cruel. If they invade the Central Plains, the people will suffer serious crimes. We must at least protect the safety of the people under our jurisdiction. ." Li Wanxiang also agreed.

"Okay, negotiating peace with the court is what the current situation requires, but whether the peace negotiation can be successful depends on the attitude of the court. We must be prepared for both." Lin Feng continued.

"Sir, the last time we responded to the Qin Army's attack, it was revealed that our Zhenming Army was seriously lacking in strength. We must take advantage of this opportunity when the Qin Army retreats to replenish our troops and train our sergeants." Wang Qin suggested.

"As our territory expands, our military strength needs to be increased appropriately, but we must also consider our ability to afford military expenses. Ieyasu, can you calculate the maximum amount of money that can be provided per month to support troops?" Lin Feng asked.

Lin Jiakang opened the account book and said: "I just did a half-year summary of the Zhenming Group yesterday. The group can now provide a maximum of about 20,000 taels of military expenditure per month.

Agricultural tax here in Jiazhou is 16,000 taels in summer, Fugu, Shenmu and Wubao can collect about 24,000 to 5,000 taels, and the whole Jiazhou is about 40,000 taels.

In Suidezhou and Baodezhou plus Hequ and Linxian, the summer tax could be collected to 80,000 taels. The entire Zhenming Army territory can collect 120,000 taels of summer tax, which is a huge increase compared to before.

The main reason is that by cracking down on large illegal households, we have greatly reduced the hidden land that does not pay taxes, which not only increases taxes but also reduces the burden on ordinary people. "

"The entire Jiazhou can collect a summer tax of 40,000 taels, which is nearly twice the amount in the past. The people still have no objections, and their enthusiasm for paying taxes is much higher than before. This is all the work of the governor." Jiazhou Zhizhou Zhang Yingjie immediately flattered him.

"Haha, it's all thanks to everyone. From now on, we ourselves will not engage in this kind of behavior. Everyone just performs their respective duties well." Lin Feng said, there should be no unhealthy culture of flattery and flattery within the Zhenming Army.

"I understand, I understand!" Zhang Yingjie said with a slight embarrassment, but the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty had always been like this before, and whoever had nothing to do was willing to flatter him.

"Sir, the summer tax can collect 120,000 taels per season. About 20% needs to be left to ensure the operation of the county government. It can provide about 90,000 taels for military expenses, which is about 15,000 taels a month. In addition to the 20,000 taels provided by Zhenming Group There are only 35,000 taels out of 10,000 taels, so the gap is still quite big." Su Shunnian said. "There is also commercial tax. How much has been collected this month?" Lin Feng then asked.

"A total of about 13,000 taels of commercial taxes were collected, and Zhenming Group handed over about 6,000 taels, accounting for nearly half. At present, the collection of commercial taxes is relatively smooth in Jiazhou, and several other states have just made arrangements for commercial tax collection. , it should increase next month." Lin Jiakang continued to report.

"Totaling everything together now, the maximum military expenditure that can be provided per month is about 48,000 taels. Based on the average cost of three taels per soldier, the maximum number of troops can be raised is about 16,000.

We currently have nearly 17,000 troops in eight brigades, and we have basically reached a balance between supply and demand. However, considering that the income of the Governor's Mansion will continue to increase next month, and there is still a lot of confiscated silver, I decided to recruit 3,000 more troops, 2,000 on the southern line of Jiazhou and Suidezhou, and 2,000 on the northern line. Gu, Hequ and Baodezhou recruited 1,000 troops. The entire recruitment work is handled by the Zhenfu Division. " Lin Feng ordered.

However, Lin Feng still concealed the monthly income of 15,000 taels from the Luoyang side of the group. On the one hand, it was to reduce the number of irrelevant personnel who could grasp the Luoyang strategy, and on the other hand, he had to leave some room.

"Yes!" Fang Tiezhu stood up and accepted the order.

"Sir, how will we replenish the three thousand newly recruited soldiers?" Wang Qin asked.

"The 1,000 people on the northern front will be supplemented by the Shanxi Second and Third Combat Brigades, and each brigade will be supplemented by 500 people. The 2,000 people on the southern front will be trained by Zhenming Military Academy first. After the training of new recruits is completed, the staff department will take one Report the troop allocation plan to me." Lin Feng explained.

"Understood!" Wang Qin replied.

"In addition to the expansion of troops, we mainly want to discuss future military strategies today. Guo Zheng first talks about the latest enemy information you have." Lin Feng explained.

"Okay, the Qin army from western Shaanxi has retreated to Qingjian County south of Suidezhou. Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides of the imperial court, is still encircling Li Zicheng and Cao Cao Luo Rucai on the border of Shaanxi and Sichuan.

In the direction of Shanxi, General Hu Dawei of Shanxi retreated to Ningyuan City after one confrontation with our army. Wang Pudao, the commander-in-chief of Datong, was ready to make a move, but Baodezhou did not belong to the Datong military town. Without the order of the imperial court, he would not have crossed the border to attack.

Therefore, based on the above situation, as long as the Qin army retreats and no longer attacks, we currently have no urgent enemy situation in Shaanxi, which can win us a rare opportunity for development. "Guo Zheng analyzed after comprehensively analyzing the relevant enemy information.

"Our Zhenming Army has now occupied a lot of new places. Whether it is the training of officials or the implementation of some systems, such as the system of collecting commercial taxes, it will take time to implement it to ensure that there will be no fighting or less fighting for a period of time, which will consolidate our It is very important to digest the territory and improve the strength." Su Shunian continued.

"Sir, in terms of military matters during this time, I suggest that on the southern front we should focus on the movements of the Qin army and not take the initiative to attack. On the northern front we should focus on the situation of the Datong soldiers. If necessary, we can take the initiative to attack and weaken the imperial power in northern Shanxi." Wang Qin suggested.

"This strategy is feasible, but during this period the military should focus on solid defense, focus on developing internal affairs, consolidate the occupied territory, find ways to develop agricultural and commerce, and increase the tax revenue of the Governor's Palace without increasing the burden on ordinary people. , laying a solid foundation for the next step of military expansion.

Tingfengwei must speed up its deployment in the surrounding areas during this period and keep track of the movements of the official and peasant armies at any time so that we can make early arrangements.

The Staff Department should urge each brigade to do a good job in training soldiers, and the Logistics Department should urge ordnance factories to speed up the production of new muskets and artillery to comprehensively enhance the combat capabilities of the Zhenming Army. Lin Feng ordered.

"Understood!" Everyone accepted the order in unison.

(End of this chapter)