In February of the third year of the reform, the envoy led by Ning Zhonghai chose to leave for China after reaching a formal agreement with the Japanese shogun, and then symbolically went to meet the emperor.

On the issue of the Satsuma Domain, Ning Zhonghai also reached a preliminary agreement with Tokugawa Yoshimune, that is, in principle, not to intervene, Tokugawa Yoshimune will not help the Satsuma Domain withstand this thunder, but he will not force the Satsuma Domain from the inside - this will intensify the contradictions between other vassals and the shogun internally.

After Ning Zhonghai returned to China, Ning Yu rewarded the mission, mainly by adding some annuities to the title, in the current title system of Ning Chu, there is no real land and household registration, only the annuity and the glory of the title itself, so the amount of annuity can also reflect the dignity of the title.

In the Fengtian Palace, the cabinet ministers, together with the privy envoy Ning Zhongyi, the privy deputy envoy Cheng Ming, Ning Zuyi, and others gathered in the main hall, and everyone bowed their heads slightly, listening to the overall introduction of this year's financial budget by Ning Zhongjing, the first assistant.

"According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce's projections, next year's industrial and commercial tax revenue can completely surpass the field tax and become the main source of finance, and the cabinet will further support and promote industry and commerce."

When everyone heard this, they were a little surprised, because the field tax has always been the main part of the annual income, such as the annual income of the second year of Ning Chu's innovation, of which the field tax is about 22 million taels, about 2 million taels more than expected, mainly for the development of some wasteland and the popularization of iron agricultural tools, and has achieved good results.

As for the tariffs, mining taxes, commercial taxes, tea taxes, and salt taxes belonging to industry and commerce, they are about 13 million taels, which is not much different from expectations, but it is conceivable that with the comprehensive popularization of industrial and commercial policies in the south and the prosperous development of maritime trade, the taxes of industry and commerce will exceed 20 million taels at your fingertips.

What is even more crucial is that the two provinces and southwestern provinces, which were newly included in the second year of the reform, are normally exempt from tax for one year, and the places involved in the war are exempt from tax for two or even three years, so these places are not included in the tax revenue, and after next year, these places will be included in the tax system, and the fiscal income will also rise by another seven or eight million yuan.

After the end of the Northern Expedition this year, the threat of the Qing court was completely solved, and the domestic financial plate at that time was conservatively estimated to exceed 60 million yuan, so Ning Yu gave the cabinet the expected goal of renovating at least 65 million yuan in five years, so as to complete the exponential surpassing of the Qing court.

After all, the Qing court's income at its peak was only more than 30 million taels of silver, which doubled that is, 60 million taels, which is enough to make all the cabinet ministers excited, which means that many related construction plans can also be carried out in a big way, but the emperor who is in charge of the house is also a loose character, but he spends a lot more money.

“...... Generally speaking, this year's fiscal revenue will increase substantially, but the Industry 1.0 plan and other expenses are also a very large expense, and it is expected that a long-term industrial treasury bond worth 30 million yuan will be issued, with a 10-year interest rate of 6 percent and a five-year interest rate of 4 percent. ”

Ning Zhongjing sighed softly, he really wasn't the kind of person who borrowed money to live, and he didn't agree with Ning Yu's radical plan, but it was not easy to oppose it on the surface.

In fact, in Ning Yu's view, this is nothing, because at present, the central finance of the Qing court is not thorough in excavating taxes, and only after the apportionment of the land into the mu and the integrated payment of grain by the officials and gentry are completely realized, the Qing court's financial income is a more real and credible number, so what is this number?

According to Ning Yu's understanding, the policy of apportioning the land into the mu and paying the grain to the gentry in one place was not thoroughly implemented during the Yongzheng period, but was really implemented during the Qianlong period, and in the original history, the annual income of Qianlong in the 18th year had risen to 50 million taels plus 13 million stone rice grain, which had almost doubled.

Therefore, in Ningchuli, where the policy of apportioning the land into the mu and the integrated payment of grain by the officials and gentry is more sufficient, the excavation of finance is also more sufficient, and in addition to this reason, there is also the cause of the industrial revolution, that is, the industry 1.0 plan implemented by Ningyu in this era, which is more of an amplifier for the economy.

The power of the Industrial Revolution lies in the fact that it subverted the traditional productive forces, like Britain before the Industrial Revolution, the population only increased by about two-thirds in 400 years, but by the end of the Industrial Revolution in the nearly 100 years after the start of the Industrial Revolution, the population increased by nearly 1.5 times.

This is because most of the time, the growth of productivity is an ordinary linear growth, and the population is an explosive exponential growth, but because the productivity cannot keep up with the growth of population, it will lead to famine and war, which in turn inhibits the growth of population.

Generally speaking, when the relationship between population and productivity reaches a balance point, there are only two ways to go: one is to drastically reduce the population by means of war, plague, famine, etc., so that the relationship between land and population is no longer tense, which is also the path that China has been following in the past; The other is more difficult, that is, to open up to the outside world, increase land, and increase productivity and increase unit output.

However, when the industrial revolution appeared, the growth of productivity has skyrocketed, which has also contributed to the explosion of the population, such as the Qing generation, although there is no industrial revolution, but there are also corn, potatoes and other food crops from the Americas, which contain more calories, so they continue to boost population growth, and it has been close to 300 million in the Qianlong period.

For Ning Yu, because the intensity of the war against the Qing Dynasty was not high, and the time was short, the essence of the south did not suffer great damage, and while preserving the wealth, the population was also preserved, and the current population of Ning Chu was conservatively estimated to be more than 100 million.

After the implementation of the industrial revolution, the population of Ningchu will reach at least 400 to 500 million, which is an extremely terrifying number, and this time may be about another 50 years. In a hundred years, the population of the whole of China may soar to more than 800 million.

Therefore, Ningyu not only needs to open up to the outside world and obtain more living space, but also needs to improve productivity, that is, through the industrial revolution, to give other people more food.

"The industrial development plan is a century-old plan for my development, and today's Industry 1.0 is just the initial plan, it is nothing, and there will be Industry 2 in the future. 0, and even Industry 3.0...... It cannot be postponed, and it cannot be abolished! ”

Ning Yu looked at all the courtiers, but said categorically, no matter how difficult it is, he will implement it after all, and whoever dares to stop it is his enemy.

The ministers felt a pang in their hearts, and they also understood Ning Yu's thoughts, if they want to enter the cabinet or even become the first assistant in the future, the first condition is that they are supporters of the industrial development plan, otherwise they will not be able to pass the emperor's pass.

After sorting out this matter, the next thing is Ning Zhongyi of the Privy Council, after he announced last year's military operation and this year's military preparation plan, it aroused a lot of discussions.

However, everyone said that it was actually focused on the three battles to be fought this year, namely the Northern Expedition, the Battle of Burma, and the Battle of the Satsuma Domain.

As for the battle of Burma, it is specifically responsible for the Southwest Group Army, and three or five divisions are enough, which will not affect the Northern Expedition.

Ning Zhongyi frowned slightly, "The key to the battle of the Satsuma Domain is not the Satsuma Domain itself, but the attitude of the shogunate. ”

This is something that everyone can think of, after all, the Satsuma Domain is only a small state, the area is only one county of Ningchu, if you really want to fight it, it is nothing more than the strength of two regiments, the key is the attitude of the shogunate, if they choose to secretly help the Satsuma Domain, then the war is bound to expand, and the time will be further extended.

For this question, it is natural that Ning Zhonghai, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce who has been to Japan in person, must answer it.

"In general, the shogunate has reached an agreement with my Great Chu, and it is unlikely that they will stand out for the long-standing resentful Satsuma Domain, unless the ambition shown by my Great Chu scares them."

Ning Yu nodded lightly, "The battle against Satsuma is not a war in a simple sense, and it is also related to the strategy against Japan, so while our army needs to ensure its interests, it needs to limit the war to the territory of the Satsuma Domain, and it also needs to end in a shorter time..... At the same time, the reconquest of the Ryukyus should also be carried out at the same time. ”

"However, at this time, there was already a nominal king of the Ryukyus......"

The second assistant, Cui Wancai, euphemistically objected, after all, he was still famous for fighting Satsuma, but sending troops to Ryukyu was a bit nondescript.

Ning Yu snorted coldly, "Ryukyu has been ruled by Satsuma for a long time, and the current Ryukyu King is just a puppet. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

.........

On February 12, the third year of the reform, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nyingchu officially presented its credentials to Japan, demanding that the Satsuma Domain stop its aggression against the Ryukyus, release the King of the Ryukyus and others, and make corresponding compensation to the Ryukyus and Ninchu.

For this request, the shogunate naturally knew it, and directly chose to ignore it, and handed it over to the Satsuma Domain, which naturally means that the good show you made by the Satsuma Domain yourself, you will end it yourself.

Strictly speaking, the shogunate did not do this very authentically, and in the past, it was to be crusaded by the people of the world, but the problem is that the Satsuma clan has always enjoyed exclusive interests in the Ryukyu affair, and has not shared it with other powerful clans, plus the Shimazu family of the Satsuma clan itself is very strong, so it is also envied by many daimyos, and everyone has a kind of desire to watch the excitement.

However, when this letter of state reached the hands of Shimazu Jitoyo, the lord of the Satsuma domain, he felt a deep sense of shame and resentment towards the shogunate, which was simply a clear murder with a sword.

"Hmph, what did the shogunate do to put my Satsuma Domain? Could it be that there is no one in my Shimazu family? ”

Shimazu Jifeng is also in his early forties now, which is the same age as Tokugawa Yoshimune, but compared to Tokugawa Yoshimune's high prestige, Shimazu Jifeng is very lacking, but fortunately, he has a military advisor, called Xue Qing Kurahisa, who has always been giving advice to Shimazu Jifeng.

After reading the national letter for a long time, Xue Qingcang sighed, "General, I'm afraid this matter is not that simple...... I'm afraid that the shogunate has long colluded with Ning Chu. ”

Relatively speaking, the Satsuma Domain is the most closely connected with the outside world, even the Tokugawa Shogunate, many times if they want to contact the outside world, they also need to use the relevant channels of the Satsuma Domain, so they naturally know that in the past period of time, the Tokugawa Shogunate and Ning Chu played some small actions.

If there was no shadow of the shogunate behind this incident, they would not believe it.

"However, the head of the family should not be too worried, the shogunate can only do things behind his back in this matter, and he will never dare to take the initiative to jump out, otherwise the other daimyo will not tolerate it...... The crux of the problem still lies in Ning Chu himself. ”

Although Xue Qing Cangjiu had a faint expression on his face, his tone was a little dignified.

Ning Chu.......

Although Shimazu Jifeng is not the master of the Ming Dynasty, he also knows that this powerful regime in the south of the Qing Dynasty has completely seized the entire south of the Celestial Empire in just a few years, and now it has become an existence far beyond Japan.

But no matter how strong the enemy is, Shimazu Jifeng is unwilling to give up Ryukyu, it is the territory that the ancestors have grabbed with great difficulty, and it has also made the Shimazu family have a good addiction to the suzerain, not to mention how much Satsuma Domain has sought from the tributary trade of the Qing court through the vest of the Ryukyu country, which is all white silver!

In Japan, silver was relatively expensive, so many merchants liked to do business with Chinese merchants to earn the difference in the price of gold and silver, but since the shogunate's lockdown decree, only the Shimazu family can continue to do this business, so he will not give up Ryukyu no matter what.

"If I compromise on this, how can I be worthy of the successive governors of the Shimazu family? How to be worthy of the honor on the family crest? ”

A look of determination flashed on Shimazu Jifeng's face, how could he not know what a mayfly shook the tree? But after all, there are some things that cannot be yielded.

Xue Qing Cangjiu let out a long sigh, his original intention was to let Shimazu Jifeng take a step back, as long as he could avoid giving Ning Chu this excuse to start a war, there would naturally be room for turning around in the future.

After all, the real enemy of the Shimazu family has always been the Tokugawa family, who watched from the sidelines of the shogunate.

Just looking at Shimazu Jitoyo's expression, Xue Qing Cangjiu knew that he couldn't persuade the other party, so there was only one way.

"The head of the family, for the sake of today's plan, only when we face the battle, we must not only win, but also win a big victory, so that we can negotiate with Ning Chu with the victory and get a better result."

Then, when Shimazu Jifeng nodded frequently, Xue Qingcang said coldly: "It's not enough to win the battle, we have to send letters to other foreign daimyos, explain the seriousness of this matter to them, expose the shogunate's sinister intentions, and then jointly put pressure on the shogunate to force the shogunate to stop the conspiracy!" ”