"Geng Jimei, you first talk about the situation of the Fujian garrison." After announcing the start of the court meeting, Kangxi was the first to call the name of Geng Jimei, the envoy of Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan, and asked him to introduce the situation of the Fujian garrison. Kangxi seems to do this casually, but in fact, it has been carefully considered, among the three feudatories, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, is the strongest, and Geng Shang and the two feudatories are actually Wu Sangui's horse leader, if Wu Sangui's son Wu Yingxiong is allowed to speak first, then the amount of military salary they ask for is bound to rise with Wu Yingxiong's lion opening his mouth; But if they let them speak first, then these two families would not dare to be the first birds without Wu Sangui's courage and power, and naturally they would not dare to knock on the bamboo poles of the imperial court, and the amount of military salaries they asked for would definitely be more reasonable. In this way, the two families were able to help the Wu family, forcing Wu Yingxiong not to dare to ask too much for military salaries.

"Wechen obeys the holy decree." Geng Jimei replied respectfully, stood up from the specially given seat and walked among the hundred officials. As Geng Jingzhong's cousin, Geng Jimei is only in his forties, medium height, and always has a kind smile on his white and fat face, which gives people a feeling like a spring breeze. As for the character, it is even more typical of the wallgrass, belonging to the kind of character who is so sleek that he can't find the edges and corners, which led to Liu Xuanchu repeatedly warning Wu Yuanming before the previous dynasty that he must be careful of Geng Jimei, the master who may defect at any time. And Geng Jimei also faithfully reproduced Liu Xuanchu's evaluation of him, laughing first when he opened his mouth, and laughing when he closed his mouth.

"Haha." Geng Jimei first smiled loudly, and then smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there are more than 46,000 troops in Fujian, half of the main army is stationed along the coast of Xiamen, specializing in guarding against Taiwan's Zheng Rebellion, and the rest are stationed in various places to guard the place. In addition, there were more than 7,000 green battalion soldiers, who were also stationed along the coast of Xiamen to help guard against Zheng Wei. Among them, the annual salary of each soldier in the Fujian garrison is 22 taels of silver, and the salary of the soldiers of the Green Battalion is 15 taels per person per year. ”

Listening to Geng Jimei's report quietly on the surface, Kangxi was really unhappy in his heart, and secretly said in his heart: "His Geng Jingzhong's Fujian garrison has to get twenty-two taels of silver per person every year!" It's even seven taels more than my green battalion soldiers per year! It is true that I take my money, not my money. Kangxi has always been extremely dissatisfied with the high salaries of the soldiers stationed in the three feudatories, and has always wanted the three feudatories to cancel this unfair treatment in order to save money. Because only in this way can the little Buddha of Kangxi have silver to give all the Manchurian people a monthly salary of five taels of silver per person, and they will be issued from birth until death! The bodhisattva heart of the little Buddha of Kangxi, how can it be understood by the likes of Wu, Geng, and Shang?

"In addition to the silver taels issued to the sergeants, the soldiers also need six stone rice rations every year, and the price of Fujian rice is about two taels of silver per stone of rice, and in a year, the ration expenses of the Fujian garrison and the green camp army will cost more than 700,000 taels." Geng Jimei continued to introduce the situation in Fujian, because he knew that there must be an eyeliner of the imperial court in the Fujian garrison, so Geng Jimei did not exaggerate in his words, but truthfully introduced the situation in Fujian. But when he heard Kangxi's truth, he provoked a burst of anger from Kangxi's little Buddha, "One hundred catties of rice per stone (Note 1), each person eats six hundred catties of rice every year?" You soldiers of the three feudal armies are all pigs, huh? "The little Buddha Kangxi even began to fantasize that if all the armies of the three feudal domains could be abolished, how many bannermen could be given rice with the grain and rice saved? You must know that since he was born, a banner man under the rule of the little Buddha of Kangxi can only receive a mere twenty-four stone of Lu rice rations every year, which is too hard and simple.

"Just for the two kinds of military salaries and military rations, Fujian will spend more than 2.3 million taels of silver every year." Because the position of the ministers was far away from the dragon chair, Geng Jimei couldn't observe the expression on Kangxi's face, so she could only say tentatively and cautiously: "In addition, there are also normal expenses such as forage for war horses, maintenance and construction of war ships, normal wear and tear of weapons, camp tents, military clothes and shoes, etc., which are also places where a lot of money is spent. In the past two years, the imperial court has only allocated 2 million taels of silver to Fujian every year, and although there is some income in Fujian, it is still not enough ....... ”

Because Kangxi didn't speak, Geng Jimei wasn't sure if these words angered him, his confidence became less and less, and his voice became smaller and smaller. Please show the emperor. ”

"I ask you, since the military salary of two million taels a year is not enough, how much silver does the imperial court have to allocate every year to cover the military salary expenses of Fujian?" Kangxi asked lightly. Kangxi reversed the normal state of unified discussion on the number of military salaries of the three feudatories, and adopted various means to break through, first asking how much military salaries Fujian needed - and this was what Wu Yuanming was most worried about. Sure enough, as Wu Yuanming expected, when it was time to ask the court for silver alone, Geng Jimei's fluent eloquence suddenly disappeared, and he stammered: "This ...... This ......, Fujian...... Per...... Every year, at least ...... At least...... Want....... ”

"At least how much does Fujian want?" Kangxi asked impatiently. And Geng Jimei's white and fat face was beaded with sweat, and he still couldn't answer when he stammered, and his eyes looked at Wu Yuanming as if he was asking for help, and said in his heart Wu Yingxiong, you should speak quickly, without your Wu family taking the lead, our Geng family is almost like farting in the court. Of course, Wu Yuanming also knew about this situation, and when he stood up and was about to speak, Kangxi preemptively said: "Wu Aiqing, please take a seat, the military salary of the Yunnan-Guizhou garrison will be discussed later, and now the issue of the military salary of the Fujian garrison will be solved first." ”

"Yes." No matter how bad Wu Yuanming is, it is not good for him to openly resist the order in front of hundreds of civil and military officials, so he can only sit back in silence. Fortunately, Yao Qisheng and Liu Xuanchu, the two old foxes, had expected such a situation in advance, and had prepared Wu Yuanming, so Wu Yuanming was not very flustered, but the thumb and index finger of his left hand were clasped into a ring and sent a secret signal to Geng Jimei. Geng Jimei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said: "Back to the emperor, Weichen has already signed a public fold with Wu Yingxiong Shizi and Shang Zhizhi, and the military salaries required by Fujian, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangdong have been clearly stated on the public fold, and will be handed over to Tianting by the prince of Pingxi on behalf of his ministers, and I hope to live the Ming investigation." ”

"A bunch of traitors who deserve death!" Kangxi was furious in his heart, he originally wanted to discuss the salaries of the three feudatories one by one, and he could receive the effect of each break, but Wu Yuanming was a chess player, and he jointly handed over the public fold with the three feudatories, tying the issue of the military salaries of the three feudatories together, and Wu Ciyou's various plans for breaking Kangxi were also declared useless. Kangxi couldn't help but be angry and asked, "Since the three feudatories have a joint public fold, where is the fold?" ”

"Back to the emperor, the joint name of the three feudatories is here." Wu Yuanming stood up again, took out a fold from the shoe, and raised his hands above the top. Without waiting for Kangxi's orders, Zhang Wanqiang, the chief eunuch of the Six Palaces, walked down from behind Kangxi to the palace according to the rules, took over the joint name of the three feudatories from Wu Yuanming's hands, and put his hands on the dragon case in front of Kangxi. The joint name of the three feudatories was put in front of him, but Kangxi didn't have the courage to look at it - the key was that he didn't have the courage to look at those terrible numbers, so he just tapped his fingers on the dragon case and said: "In that case, Shang Zhizhi, Wu Yingxiong, you can introduce the situation of the garrisons in Guangdong and Yunnan-Guizhou." ”

…… Let's watch the History and Military Channel of Literature Network, more exciting content is waiting for you! ……

"Long live Qiyu, the situation of the garrison in Guangdong is basically similar to that in Fujian." After obtaining Wu Yuanming's permission, Shang Zhizhi, who was quite handsome, first reported to Kangxi: "Guangdong has 48,000 garrisons and more than 6,000 Green Camp troops, mainly stationed in Chaozhou, Zhuhai and Qinzhou, and at the same time shoulders the heavy responsibility of guarding against Taiwan's Zheng Rebellious, Overseas Shengfan and Annam Ruan's clan. Not counting other expenses, the salary of soldiers and officers is about 1.7 million taels of silver per year; The grain prices in Guangdong are basically similar to those in Fujian, and the army's annual ration expenditure is not much different, which is more than 700,000 taels. The total annual expenditure on military salaries and rations is more than 2.4 million taels, and with other military expenditures, the 2 million taels allocated by the imperial court in these years are far from enough. ”

"Lord Shang, the local taxes in Guangdong should be much higher than those in Fujian, right?" Xiong Cixu, who had not spoken, suddenly asked. Shang Zhizhi was not too afraid of Xiong Cixu, and quickly replied: "What Lord Xiong said is extremely true, the local tax in Guangdong is one percent higher than that in Fujian, but Qinzhou in the southwest of Guangdong is thin and has few people, and the grain production is not enough for self-sufficiency, and it has to garrison a large army to guard against Annan. Moreover, Guangdong is also in charge of Hainan Island, and the warships are needed more, and the navy spends a lot of money, and Lord Xiong is erudite and Confucian, so he should know better than the lower officials, right? ”

Xiong Cixu didn't understand military affairs, and was speechless by Shang Zhizhi's words, and when he was embarrassed, Kangxi came out to play a round. Kangxi forced a smile and said, "Hehe, hard!" Both Guangdong and Fujian are having a hard time! But compared to hardship, who can compare with Yunnan and Guizhou? Wu Yingxiong, it's time for you to cry to the court about the situation of the Yungui garrison, let's talk about it, how poor is the Yungui garrison? After Mingzhu and Xiong Cixu touched the nails one after another, Kangxi suddenly missed Wang Xu, the head of the household who had been put in prison by him, if Wang Xu was still in the court, with his knowledge of the world's finances, he would definitely be able to find a way to refute Shang Zhizhi. It's just that Kangxi and Wu Ciyou are the same as themselves, and they don't want to believe that Wang Xu is innocent.

Kangxi originally wanted to say a few playful words to enliven the atmosphere of the court meeting, but who knew that Wu Yuanming beat the snake with the stick, and really wiped his tears and said: "Emperor Mingjian, Yungui under the rule of Weichen's father, that is really a poor place, the common people of Yungui, and the bitter person who is not carved out of Coptis wood?" Whining....... As he spoke, Wu Yuanming exaggeratedly hid his face and cried.

"Wu Aiqing, Wu Aiqing, and slow sadness." Kangxi was angry and funny, waved his hand to stop Wu Yuanming's crying, and said with a smile: "I know that you Yungui are bitter, but how bitter Yungui is, you can introduce it to me." ”

"Yes, yes, Wechen lost his temper." Wu Yuanming wiped his tears and choked up: "Your Majesty, how hard the people of Guizhou are, you just need to listen to the local folk songs: the sky is sunny for three days, the earth is not three miles flat, and people are not three cents of silver!" A person can't even take out three cents of silver, you can imagine how poor and miserable he is. Although Yunnan is better than Guizhou, the climate is hot, prone to miasma, wild beasts and poisonous snakes are rampant, and the common people want to live a good life in that kind of place - just one word, difficult! The land in both provinces is very barren and sparsely populated, and the taxes collected are not to mention subsidizing military use, and even the daily expenses of the government are stretched. Moreover, the people of Yungui are fierce, and the people are brave and strong, and they often meet with the government and the army, and not long ago Weng'an ...... In addition, the transportation roads in Yunnan and Guizhou are extremely underdeveloped, all of which are stretching and rugged mountain roads, and the transportation of materials is extremely inconvenient. In addition, Yunnan shares borders with Burma, Annam, Siam and other vicious foreign countries, and faces threats from several directions at the same time. At the same time, Yunnan should also play the role of monitoring Tibet's loudspeakers...... ”

"Wu Aiqing, stop, stop." Kangxi interrupted Wu Yuanming's endless mouth, frowned, and said: "Wu Aiqing, the people of Yunnan and Guizhou live in poverty, I know this, but to say that Yunnan and Guizhou are poor, is this a bit exaggerated?" ”

"The emperor is wrong to blame Weichen, the prelude of the monarch is right, Weichen An dares to exaggerate?" Wu Yuanming replied as if he was very honestly afraid. Kangxi made a look, and Xiong Cixu, who began to speak, stood up again, and said to Wu Yuanming: "Shizi, please let Xiong interject a sentence, Yunnan produces tea, and is rich in copper ore and iron ore, and the king of Pingxi boils salt and cast iron by himself, and opens his own tea and horse market, how can the local income be stretched?" ”

Ying Xiong dared to ask Lord Xiong, does Lord Xiong know how much salt can be boiled in Yunnan every year? How much salt do the local people need? How much copper, iron and tea can Yungui produce? Wu Yuanming asked with a smile. Xiong Cixu was dumbfounded again, and hesitated: "This ...... It should be quite a lot, right? The specific number of Pingxi King did not report to the court, how could Xiong know? ”

"Okay, I can tell Bear." Wu Yuanming sneered: "Yungui produces less than 50,000 catties of tea every year, excluding local needs and sales to the mainland, there are only more than 30,000 catties of tea that can be exchanged for furs, horses, cattle and sheep in the tea and horse market every year. It is said that Yunnan boils salt privately, but how much brine can be in the Chuxiong Real Estate in Yunnan? In addition to Yunnan and Guizhou provinces for their own use, how much can they be used for export? Yunnan is rich in copper and iron, and how much copper and iron can be mined can be mined in addition to being handed over to the imperial court to cast Kangxi money, and weapons to be cast for the use of soldiers? In two provinces where taxes are almost zero and food production is insufficient, what is the surplus of silver? Is it enough to buy grain to stabilize private food prices? Or is it enough to dredge Erhai Lake and open the way? ”

"It's ......." Xiong Cixu is familiar with the book of the sages of the Confucian League, but he is not proficient in the economy, and he was frightened by Wu Yuanming's bluffing and speechless, it just so happened that Wang Xu, the most proficient in the local economy in the Kangxi family, has been imprisoned, and other people such as Mingzhu, Xiong Cixu, and Jieshu have not been in contact with the grassroots economy, and the rest of them understand the local economy and are all Aobai's subordinates, so they let Wu Yuanming bluff - of course, although Wu Yuanming has a lot of quibbles, but there are also many things to say that are the truth. really refutes it, and no one wants to refute Wu Yuanming for a while.

"A bunch of rubbish!" Kangxi saw that none of his subordinates could refute Wu Yuanming, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of anger in his heart. In order to suppress the anger in his chest, Kangxi couldn't help but pick up the joint fold of the three feudatories placed on the dragon case, opened it and only glanced at it, Kangxi was on the spot, and then Kangxi felt a burst of blood rushing to his head, and he couldn't wait to tear the joint fold apart! Kangxi roared in his heart: "Your appetite is also boundless, you just take me to the market and sell it!" ”

Note 1: One hundred catties in the Qing Dynasty was equivalent to about seventy kilograms in modern times.