Song Yi

Chapter 419 Returning to the Teacher of Yi
When Du Wenhao came to the Political Affairs Hall, almost everyone was there, and Cai Que was the last one to arrive. Wang Gui didn't say anything. After announcing the continuation of the meeting, he picked up the meeting list and said, "The fifth topic is to be reported by the Ministry of War. Yes. In fact, it was the same as the previous one who requested to send troops to conquer Xixia. It was reported to the Ministry of War by the Department of Economics and Strategy of Huanqing.

Deng Runfu came in with two assistant officers and a stack of account books.After saluting, he sat down on the chair by the door.

Wang Gui said: "Master Deng, please tell me your suggestions."

Deng Runfu hastily agreed and read the report again.First, he elaborated on the importance of the Xiang Army and its indispensable role in the Xixia campaign, and then talked about the current situation of the shortage of troops in the Xiang Army of the Huanqing Economic Strategy and the plan to expand the army in the next step. It is proposed that the entire army expansion increase the amount to 92 commands (battalions). "

In the military system of the Song Dynasty, one commander (battalion) had 500 people, and 92 commanders had 6000 people.Du Wenhao couldn't help but his face changed color after hearing this, but he held his breath and wanted to listen to their opinions first.

This time, Han Zhen was not condescending, and spoke first: "Since the decision to send troops to Xixia, and the Shaanxi Sixth Route Army headed by Huanqing, they took turns to fight. The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first. The food and grass must be transported this time, right? Sending troops is a protracted war, ranging from three to five years to more than ten years. There is no way to rely on temporary employment of porters and civilians, and we have to rely on the Xiang army. In the battle of Xixia, especially in the battle of Yongle City, most of them have been lost. It is impossible to fight without the Xiang army, so it is necessary to increase the number of men. However, do we need to increase so many people at once? This can be discussed."

Lin Xi, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, also smiled and said: "Master Han's words are very true. The Huanqing Economic and Strategy Division is located in a remote place, and has repeatedly fought against Xixia. Most of the young and strong people died in the battles. It is difficult to find civilian husbands. Only I can rely on the Xiang army. The Xiang army will serve hundreds of battles, build battle villages, transport rations, build roads and bridges. You can’t do anything without the Xiang army. This time I decided to send troops to deal with Xixia with a protracted war. It cannot be right or wrong, and the addition is indeed very necessary."

The rest of the people also joined in.

Cai Que smiled and said: "What you said is very true. When sending troops to Xixia, the Huanqing Economic Strategy Division should increase the Xiang army. The number should be increased by half first, and then increase as appropriate. What do you think?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.Only Du Wenhao sneered slightly, but did not speak.

Cai Que didn't dare to ignore him this time, stroked his gray beard and asked, "General Du, what do you think?"

Du Wenhao said coldly: "In the morning's discussion of politics, I remember that the adults here were filled with righteous indignation when they talked about redundant soldiers, and even claimed that redundant soldiers were the source of disaster for the country. Why did they completely ignore the source of disaster for the country when it came to practical problems, and instead made the disaster worse what's wrong?"

Everyone's faces suddenly changed. Du Wenhao was young after all, and he wanted to speak well, but when the words came to his lips, he couldn't control them anymore, and he said them outright.

Zhang Dun said with some embarrassment: "This..., is it different? Redundancy doesn't mean that you can't increase the number of Xiang troops. If necessary, you still need to increase them. Otherwise, if you send troops to Xixia, there is no Xiang army. Who will be in charge of these things?" What about the handyman?"

Everyone nodded again.

Du Wenhao ignored him, and turned to look at Deng Runfu, Shangshu of the Ministry of War: "Master Deng, I would like to know how much our army's military expenditures are at present? Among them, how much are the expenditures of the imperial army and the Xiang army?"

These numbers, as the Minister of the Ministry of War, are naturally well-known. There is no need to turn over the account book, and said: "General, last year, the imperial army spent 500 million yuan and the Xiang army 500 million yuan. The two armies spent a total of 5000 yuan." Ten thousand strings." (One string is equal to one thousand strings, which is equivalent to RMB 1000. Therefore, the military expenditure of the Song Dynasty is 500 billion yuan per year.)
"Do you know how much my Da Song's financial income was last year?"

This is a state secret, so Deng Runfu naturally didn't know it and shook his head blankly.

Du Wenhao looked at Wang Gui, and Wang Gui said, "Last year, 6000 million yuan (equivalent to 600 billion yuan) was transferred."

Du Wenhao got dizzy when he heard it: "There are only 6000 million yuan in total, and 5000 million yuan is taken up by military expenses?"

Deng Runfu, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, said: "Yes. This is only the funds for raising soldiers, and does not include the supplementary funds for the loss of bows, crossbows, swords, armors, etc."

"Ah? How much do these weapons and equipment cost?"

"More than 700 million wires."

"Then almost all the country's income is invested in military expenditure?"

Wang Gui smiled and said, "General Du, there is a misunderstanding here. A considerable part of the military expenditure does not come from the treasury."

"Oh? Is there any other way for the army to make money?"

"Yes. Otherwise, where would the money come from to support the army?"

Du Wenhao's eyes are wide open. He has only been in the army for more than a month. Although he is already the supreme commander of the entire army (during training), he still has very little understanding of the largest army in the world under his command.Thinking that the army is doing business, what kind of army is that, and hurriedly asked: "What kind of business does the army do?"

"Hey, of course it's something to make money, such as Huiyi (speculation), restaurants, lending and rent collection, etc."

"How about the income?"

"That's a lot of money."

"How many are there?" Du Wenhao's face darkened.

Wang Gui said: "This..., all armies generally keep it secret, so there is no way to know the truth."

"Isn't this money going to the treasury?"

"No, this is the common use of all armies. However, when the national treasury is empty, they also ask the garrison in a rich place to borrow money from the wine interest in advance to subsidize the national treasury..."

"The country still wants to borrow money from the army?" Du Wenhao was extremely shocked, and said in a deep voice: "Is there always a rough figure for how much money the army makes in a year?"

"This..., Wang Gui stroked his snow-white beard. He seemed to understand the intention of his prospective son-in-law to keep asking this question. He said to Deng Runfu, Shangshu of the Ministry of War: "Master Deng, your Ministry of War is directly in charge of the Xiang Army. They are not too small. Your Ministry of War assigns you a job, and your Ministry of War is also responsible for borrowing money back to get money. You should know a lot about the inside story here, so you can talk about the situation of Xiang Jun Hui Yi's money, as much as you know. ——General Du is preparing to rectify the military system. You need to know the figures in this regard. You must report the truth. General Du will go down to verify it in the future. "

"Yes!" Deng Runfu thought for a while, and said, "There is a big gap between the Xiang army and the ease of making money. The rich lands in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are several times or even dozens of times that of the Northwest and Southwest Xiang armies. A few days ago, the Liangzhe Road Suzhou The commander of the Xiang army, Lord Wang Baowang, came to the Ministry of War to handle affairs, chatted privately, and once revealed that their army’s annual income is about [-] guan!"

Eighty-six thousand Guan is equivalent to RMB eighty-six million.

It's not surprising that all the chief executives in the field knew about the profit-making operations of the army, but they didn't know much about the profit income. Now I heard that the profit income of the first army is as high as [-] guan, and I'm still surprised Not small.

Du Wenhao asked: "How many people are there in their army?"

"According to regulations, there are 500 people, but the actual number is not that many. There are only about 500 people."

"Nearly half of it is missing?" Du Wenhao asked with staring eyes.

Deng Runfu nodded: "They still have a relatively large number of military personnel, and some Xiang troops are short of more than [-]% of their personnel!"

Du Wenhao doesn't want to discuss why there are so many shortages of personnel now. The topic of military expenditure has completely attracted his attention, and he asked: "The income of up to [-] guan is all kept by the army. So much military spending? Where did the extra money go?"

"This..., hehe." Deng Runfu laughed dryly, but didn't continue.

Du Wenhao glanced at everyone in the field: "The army of 500 people earns 50 guan a year from business, and each person earns more than 5 guan (equivalent to more than [-] yuan), which is still military expenses. In addition to the extra income, plus military expenditures, the annual income can easily reach seventy or eighty. Really rich!"

Deng Runfu smiled wryly and said: "General Du, this is only the income of the Xiang army in the rich land. These only account for less than [-]% of the entire Xiang army. The income of most of the Xiang army is far less than this amount. For example, the Northwest Xiang army The total annual income of each army is only a few hundred guan.”

Du Wenhao said: "Is it common for Xiang Jun to do business?"

"Almost everything is being done, just bigger and smaller."

"What about the Imperial Army?"

"That's more. The imperial army has rich manpower and financial resources, and their capital is higher than that of the Xiang army. Naturally, their business is bigger than that of the Xiang army."

Du Wenhao looked at Wang Gui: "The army has gone to do business, how to train? How to guard the border? Is it difficult for the court to allow them to do this?"

Wang Gui smiled wryly: "How could it be possible to allow it? Since Emperor Taizu, it has been ordered to prohibit the army from returning to trade, etc., and those who send soldiers to make a living for profit will be arrested and punished by the Lord."

Du Wenhao said: "Then why are so many troops doing business?"

"This is also a helpless move. As you heard just now, the capital of the whole country is just barely enough for the military. If it is really all used for the army, how can the court have any money left? Therefore, we can only spend what the court needs first. After the expenses are calculated, the rest can be used as military funds, and there is a gap of tens of millions of dollars. If these gaps are not supplemented by the army's Huiyi and other funds, where will the military funds come from?"

Du Wenhao stood up loudly: "This is the reason why I oppose the expansion of the Xiang Army by the Huanqing Economic Strategy Division! What is the Xiang Army? Miscellaneous Army! To put it bluntly, they are civilians in military uniforms! These civilians cost the court every year. About 20% of the income is used to support them. If it is needed during the war, that’s fine. But except for the border, the other [-] Xiang troops from all walks of life have not engaged in these military tasks. What are they doing? ——In the local area They are used by the government as servants, used by the generals of the Xiang army as a tool to make money, and there are many more, presumably they are kept for nothing! — May I ask? Why does the country spend money to support hundreds of thousands of civilian husbands? Really? Is this necessary?"

(End of this chapter)