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Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

On the same day, the news of the defeat of the Dongjiang River, the fall of Guangzhou, and the defection of Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangdong, to the enemy was sent by 800 li to Beijing, the residence of the Son of Heaven.

The day after the bad news arrived, the Minister of Military Aircraft, the Six Ministries, the Nine Secretaries, and the Eight Banners all gathered in the Qianqing Palace. When the Daoguang Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty loved Xinjueluo. When Min Ning appeared, everyone sighed in their hearts.

The emperor was supported by two eunuchs to sit on the dragon chair in the Qianqing Palace, the old emperor in his sixties had a flushed face, a very unhealthy color, and he didn't sleep all night, and most of them shed tears in front of the portraits of the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty for a night, and his eyes were red and swollen.

"I have been raising Hanshi for 200 years, and I have received such a reward!?"

Emperor Daoguang's hoarse voice floated through the main hall, making everyone stunned.

"I am a Manchurian and a Han family, but how do Han people treat me as Manchurian?"

He coughed a few times, picked up the Pu'er tea that went to pay tribute, moistened his throat, and continued.

"This Ye Mingchen is so good! If he doesn't rebel, I won't be able to see the faces of these shameless men clearly! Now I finally know that this Manchu family is simply wishful thinking on our part! ”

Emperor Daoguang glanced around at everyone, and the faces of the Qi Han courtiers all showed different looks, and the flag people were anxious, shocked, and helpless. The Han people, on the other hand, are panicked, a kind of panic after the mask is torn off! Zhu Jishi took Guangzhou and defeated the 50,000 army of Seng Lingqin, they would not be afraid, and they would be the same officials if they changed their masters. And the official may be even bigger. Get more benefits! I heard that Ye Mingchen has become the secretary of the Ming Dynasty. Also sealed Hou!

"Your Majesty! The slave thinks that the Manchu and Han families are the ancestral ...... of my Qing Dynasty," Mu Zhang'a, the foreman, took a step forward and knelt on the ground, "Hanchen like Ye Mingchen is only a very few, a very few!" ”

Emperor Daoguang sighed in his heart, the banner man is too kind! He is too good, and the Bun Coats Aha of the Internal Affairs Office are greedy like that, and he can't bear to cut them. This Mu Zhang'a is also a good person, they are all like this, and they still help to speak! And that Sezanne Ayete is kind. The excerpt also said that Ye Mingchen's "conscience is not clear", isn't it that he didn't send troops to chase and kill the women and children of the bannermen? It was for Zhu Rei to see, although Zhu Rei is a traitor, but he is also a hero, this kind of person disdains to kill women, children, the old and weak...... This banner people are all good at this, and you Han people still want to rebel, it's really hateful! No, it can't go on like this! You must be ruthless to deal with those shameless Hanchen!

"Today's convening of all the ministers is to agree on this 'withdrawal of the green camp and the expansion of the eight banners. Compile the new army's thing! ”

The excerpts on Seng Lingqin, Sai Shang'a and others said that they wanted to "expand the Han flag", but Emperor Daoguang was itching at all when he saw the word "Han" now. So it was directly changed to "expand the eight flags".

Hearing Emperor Daoguang's words, Mu Zhang'a was about to vomit blood in his heart, and even the "Expanding the Han Banner" had become the "Expanding the Eight Banners", could it be that the emperor didn't even believe in the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty? In this way, how many people are there in these Eight Banners? 1.3 million? 1.4 million? How many new troops can be formed by such a small number of people? It's 300,000 to die! And how many people does Guangdong Province have? I'm afraid that it will not be less than 20 million, as long as Zhu Shun is willing to pay the money, there is no problem in expanding the army of 1 million, and the 300,000 Eight Banners New Army can defeat the 1 million Ming Rebellion New Army?

Your Majesty, do you think you are the Emperor of Shunzhi? The current Eight Banners are not the Eight Banners of 200 years ago!

Just when Mu Zhang'a had no master, Qi Ying, who had joined the military plane of the foreign minister, suddenly knelt down and reported it.

"Your Majesty, the minions think that the green camp must be abolished!"

Mu Zhang'a looked back at Qiying blankly, and said in his heart, is your Qiying surnamed Aixin Jueluo? This Qing Dynasty belongs to your family, why are you breaking the jar?

Qi Ying frowned, looking helpless, and then said: "Your Majesty, the servant has roughly calculated the cost of running a new army. According to the calculation of the amount of 300,000 Eight Banners New Army, 300,000 foreign guns are needed, each of which costs 25 to 30 silver dollars, a total of 7.5 million to 9 million silver dollars, more than 1,500 foreign cannons, 2,000 silver dollars per foreign cannon, and another 3 million silver dollars, and the cost of guns, cannons, and gunpowder needs at least 3 million to 5 million per year. Moreover, foreign guns and cannons are extremely vulnerable, and they need to be constantly replenished in wartime, which is another annual expense. In addition, this foreign gun and cannon also need to cooperate with Western military techniques to exert their power, and foreign generals must be hired to teach them. To train 300,000 new troops, at least 500 foreign generals must be hired, and it is not enough to have two or three million silver dollars a year.

The emperor also had to build ships and run a navy, and he also had to set up factories to make his own foreign guns and cannons, all of which cost a lot of money. According to the calculations of the Western-style Yamen, if we want to open gun factories, cannon factories, iron factories, shipyards, and gunpowder factories in Shanghai and Jingshi, and also open coal mines and iron mines in the vicinity of Beijing and Jiangnan, it will not be enough without an investment of 10 million silver dollars......

That's almost 30 million taels! The cost of the expansion of the Eight Banners New Army has not been calculated, and it is only 300,000 new troops. If you want to expand the new army by 600,000, I am afraid that this cost will have to be doubled!

"Qi Liaozao, tell me about it." Emperor Daoguang glanced at the chief Hanchen Qi Liaozao in disgust.

Qi Liaozao is the Han Shangshu of the household department, that is, the finance minister of the Qing Dynasty, and during this time, the problem of raising military funds has been exhausted. In fact, there is no new trick, that is, apportionment and donation, the former puts the burden on the peasants, and the latter forces the businessmen to donate. The big merchants of the Manchu Qing Dynasty have always been the merchants of Guangdong, the Jin merchants of Shanxi, the Yanshan of Yangzhou, the Hui merchants of southern Anhui, and the lake merchants of Jiangnan. Among them, the richest are the thirteen merchants who monopolize the export trade, and Qi Liaozao originally planned to apportionment 10 million taels to them, but who knew that these guys actually collectively rebelled, and even swallowed the dark shares of the pro-noble bigwigs in Beijing. The financial hole is so big that it can't be filled, and tens of millions of taels of silver have to be moved out to run a new army...... I'm afraid that if I kill Qi Liaozao, there will be no way!

"Your Majesty, now that Guangdong is lost, this household will lose 4.5 million yuan per year, plus the loss of coastal defense donations and tariffs, it is estimated that it will exceed 8 million...... If the war spreads to Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, and Jiangxi provinces, the annual income will be reduced even more, and it would be good to have 35 million next year. Therefore, the Ministry of Household proposed to increase the land endowment and levy a nationwide levy on coastal defense. In addition, we can reform the banknote law, mint new coins, or allow mining bans in various places, and develop Manchurian ......"

"Mine ban? Manchuria? ”

Qi Liaozao's words were interrupted by Daoguang, of course he knew that mining could make money, and he also knew that there were so many wastelands in Manchuria that he was dying. But the problem is that thousands of miners will gather when the mine is opened, and it is very easy to cause trouble. And the development of Manchuria...... What kind of place is this Manchuria? It is the retreat of the children of the Eight Banners, in case they really can't get along in the customs, they can also roll up their belongings and get out of the customs, and they are also being developed now, and they must let a large number of Han people get out of the customs, and if things don't go well, where can the children of the Eight Banners go?

"Mu Zhang'a, what can you say?"

"This development of Manchuria must not be!" Mu Zhang'a said without thinking, "However, the mining ban can be relaxed, but private mining cannot be allowed, and it must be supervised by officials from the foreign affairs yamen." ”

"Well, you can handle mining matters with the foreign affairs yamen." Emperor Daoguang nodded, "Then is it feasible to increase the land endowment and levy coastal defense donations across the country?" ”

"Feasible......" Mu Zhang'a hesitated for a moment, but still expressed his approval.

"Qi Liaozao, we need to increase the field endowment, how much coastal defense donation will be levied?" Daoguang asked again.

After listening to Daoguang's question, Qi Liaozao, who was kneeling on the ground, sighed in his heart, how much room can be increased in this tax? Ordinary peasants have long been hungry, and there is no room for any more squeezing, so I am afraid that this levy and increase will only fall on the gentry.

Thinking of this, Qi Liaozao slowly shook his head and said embarrassedly: "Your Majesty, there is limited space for additional tax contributions...... Following the old practice of the Sichuan and Chu Sects, in the eight years of the rebellion, the imperial court spent 200 million taels of silver, with an average annual demand of 25 million. By adding levies, this amount can be raised. If there is a need for a new army...... Lao Chen thinks that the only way to do this is to abolish the green camp! (To be continued......)