Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 23

In the first month of the eighth year of Guangxu, the whole of China was still in a mess, and the people still didn't have enough to eat.But he hadn't heard of people dying of starvation anywhere. Guan Xuqing knew that local officials would not report such things to him.

Zuo Zongtang and Dong Liang's disarmament has been initially completed, and the Hunan Army, Huai Army, and Chu Army have been fully integrated into the Qing Army.The ten generals were also recommended by Zuo Zongtang, Guan Xuqing personally decided, and were appointed by Liu Mingchuan, Nie Shicheng, Lu Yiwei, Dong Liang, Wu Ping, Wu Guang, Chen Heng, Wan Tianjie, Shen Danyang, and Pan Dongmin.These are young generals who have received Western military education.Stationed in Yunnan, Guangdong, Dalian, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Mongolia and Gansu.The army purchased all German equipment in a unified manner. At that time, the army was close to the world level.Claimed to be armed to the teeth.

And schools all over the country have also opened up one after another, and students come in droves.I heard that after graduating from school, you can become a teacher. Every year, the imperial court subsidizes teachers with five taels of silver, so that the whole family doesn't have to go hungry.

As the saying goes, what is good at the top must be followed by the bottom.The governors from all over the country have long heard that the little emperor is enthusiastic about foreign affairs, and they all sent telegrams to curry favor with the emperor.For example, the reconstruction of the Machinery Bureau in Sichuan, the expansion of the Guangdong Arms Bureau, and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty Daily Bureau, a storm of Westernization has blown up across the country.

Among them, the establishment of Daqing Daily News aroused Guan Xuqing's interest, yes.Set up a newspaper office to let the people of the world understand the Qing Dynasty and the world.In the past, the emperor was far away from the mountains, and all the governors were the overlords of one side, and the officials and officials protected each other.The common people have no place to redress their grievances. If a newspaper is established and the truth is presented to me, those governors should also restrain themselves.

At first glance, the person who started the performance was Zheng Guanying.This person is the general office of the Shanghai machine weaving layout organized by Li Hongzhang, and also the general office of the Shanghai Telegraph Bureau.

"Li Hongzhang, draw up the decree." Guan Xuqing said.

"Cha." Li Hongzhang waited with a brush in his hand.

"Zheng Guanying immediately set up the Daqing Daily and served as the general office. The name of the newspaper is Daqing Daily. I can say whatever I want, but the authenticity of the content must be guaranteed. I want to let the people of the Qing understand what the world is through the newspaper. What does Qing Dynasty look like in the world? You can write all the shortcomings of Qing Dynasty, and you don’t have to worry about offending others. I will never sin with words. After Daqing Daily is published, all of them will be given away for free Local people. Within one year, I will specially allocate 1000 million taels of silver to you, and you must do it within three months, and the Daqing Daily will spread throughout the country."

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty now. Is it too much to spend 1000 million taels to run a newspaper?" Li Hongzhang raised his head and asked.

"Ever? When did I ever do a loss-making business?" Guan Xuqing pointed to the heavy snow outside the window and continued, "Auspicious snow heralds a good year, this snow is a good sign. Look at the tax money sent by the provinces in two months. Compare There are a lot of snowflakes."

Li Hongzhang looked blank, looking at the snow floating outside the window, his heart was blank.

Due to the extremely outdated financial system of the Qing Dynasty, taxation was handled uniformly by local yamen.It was intercepted layer by layer, and when it was handed over to the Ministry of Accounts, it was less than one third.

But this year, since the Daqing Daily has been launched in various places, it is not easy for the Yamen to intercept it.The newspapers clearly wrote about the tax collection of local yamen officials, and they held the emperor's decree in their hands, so they could not beat or scold them.

"Your Excellency, look. Since this newspaper came out, how much tax we collected, he sent it to the capital faster than our memorial. We don't have any oil or water. Small. How can I live with this little salary from the imperial court?" said Xu Minghua, the prefect of Hangzhou.

"Hehe, our little emperor is so hateful. You put your eyes in front of us. Don't even think about taxes, just pay them in full. From now on, you should be more careful when doing things, otherwise I won't be able to protect you. I paid you back last year. You were forced to buy the national debt of our Bank of Daqing, 1 taels of silver. You can’t cash it out now, and you are much happier than me.” Zhejiang Governor Chen Tao said.

"Hey, I also bought 1000 taels. Do you think the emperor is really only 11 years old?" Xu Minghua said painfully.

In March of the eighth year of Guangxu, all national taxes were paid in full.The Ministry of Accounts counted and verified, a total of 7000 million taels of silver.Because the people are encouraged to open factories and engage in business.With the support and stimulation of the imperial court, the enthusiasm of the people was high.This has helped some taxes this year, but the main thing is that there are no layers of interception.It seems that the national treasury will finally be in surplus this year.

Guan Xuqing looked at the tax memorial with a look of relief.

(End of this chapter)