"The construction of 10 artillery battalions of the army every year cannot be interrupted, and we will strive to build 100 artillery battalions within 10 years, with a strength of 100,000 troops!" Xia Jun said that nearly one-third of the financial expenditure on military spending can be said to be very large.

In the construction of the navy and army, Sima Shu had his own plans.

As for the army, although more than 300,000 people sounds like a lot, considering that there are more than 13 million people under the rule of the imperial court, we know that this ratio of soldiers and civilians is still very reasonable. Moreover, in terms of the Huns in Bingzhou, Liu Yuan had more than 200,000 cavalry alone, so 300,000 professional soldiers were just enough.

At present, the possibility of a full-scale war in the Great Jin Dynasty due to the threat from the sea is almost zero, and the finances of the imperial court are also very tight this year, so there is no point in expanding the navy again.

The current naval fleet is enough to meet the requirements of escort, and there is no need to throw more money into it for the time being. It is better to develop the economy first, and besides, the navy has so many lucky ships and sail warships, in this era when there is no decent navy, it is enough to compete with the navies of other countries in the world, even if it can't win, it can't lose.

Moreover, there are not many opportunities for the navy to temporarily participate in the war, so it is better to build more civilian merchant ships, so that we can not only train and improve shipbuilding technology, but also create profits.

When the economy develops, the shipbuilding technology industry matures, and there is money, then the navy can build whatever it wants.

After the funds for the navy and army were decided, other cabinet ministers were relieved to see that Sima Shu had only allocated 3 million yuan for military expenses. Their mood is indeed very contradictory, that is, they want to spend less on the military, but the current situation makes it necessary for the empire to revitalize the military.

"Next, let's report on this year's division!" Sima Shu said to Zuo Si at this time.

Zuo Si heard the roll call and saw that the budget was abundant, so he hurriedly and secretly stuffed the top of the stack of reports to the bottom, got up and read the second set of plans he prepared:

"Your Majesty, the school's plan for next year is to train 30,000 masters engaged in basic education, plus our existing 70,000 masters, which means that next year the imperial court can use 100,000 masters, and the total expenditure on wages is 500,000 yuan. In addition, the Faculty plans to enroll about 3 million children between the ages of 15 and 6 to receive primary education next year. The food cost of these three million people is 300,000 yuan. In addition, in terms of school construction. The Faculty needs to invest more. Including the cost of textbooks, desks and chairs, it will cost about 1.5 million yuan. At the same time, combined with the funds of colleges and universities, colleges and universities, the total cost is about 500,000 yuan. The Faculty needs 2.8 million yuan this year. ”

"Lord Zuo, are you sure you're not crazy!"

"Two million eight thousand guan?! It is said that you receive millions of donations from all over the world every year. Why do you need so much money! ”

"Yes. It is. Lord Zuo, this is not leaving us a way to live! ”

As soon as Zuo Si's words fell, there was a lot of discussion in the Taiji Hall, and all the departments were dissatisfied with Zuo Si's lion mouth. Zuo Si didn't care, his eyes were unwavering, and he completely ignored the voices of the other departments.

"This ......" Sima Shu couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he heard this, and asked cautiously: "Taichong, do you need so many teachers?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zuo Si hurriedly said, in order to convince the emperor, he continued to explain: "Now the most important work of the school department is to promote basic education, since His Majesty ascended the throne, vigorously promote education for all, coupled with the provision of free education, so that the people can't wait to send their children to schools around the country. This year, millions of children in the Central Plains alone have entered rural schools to receive education! ”

Sima Shu listened to Zuo Si's explanation, his brows furrowed, and when everyone present thought that the emperor was going to find other excuses to cut education funds, he heard the emperor speak: "If you want to educate millions of people, then this money is probably still a little tight, so let's do it!" I will add another 500,000 yuan to the school, and the construction of schools in various places must be of good quality, and there must be no indiscriminate filling. ”

"What? Another 500,000 pieces! ”

"This is 300,000 more than military spending, and if there are 300,000 yuan, the navy will be able to build a few more sail battleships."

"With so much military spending and education spending, how can we budget for this?"

The rest of the departments were talking, and Zuo Si, the secretary of the school, was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is wise! ”

Sima Shu nodded, got up and stretched out his hand to press, signaling everyone to be quiet, the scene suddenly quieted down, and he continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, education is related to the long-term future of a country. Although the education fund of 3.3 million yuan is very much, if we can cultivate thousands of pillars, the revival of the Great Jin Dynasty is just around the corner, and every penny invested now will be a hundredfold return in the future. ”

Although many people were dissatisfied, Sima Shu used his prestige to forcibly suppress other voices, and then quickly entered the budgets of other departments.

Xun Song, the next one to make the budget, was not as nervous as others, but stood up very easily, and first reported on the implementation of the medical plan organized by the Ministry of Civil Affairs last year.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, with the help of the National Religion Lingbaojiao, launched a universal medical care plan, and last year collected 100,000 yuan in medical expenses, while the expenditure was 1 million yuan, and the loss was about 900,000 yuan. However, with the comprehensive development of Dajin Medical, it has greatly promoted the progress of the pharmaceutical industry, and this year there are 20 new Chinese herbal medicine factories alone, and it is expected that these pharmaceutical factories will make a profit of about 300,000 yuan next year, so this year the Ministry of Civil Affairs only needs 500,000 yuan. ”

The Ministry of Civil Affairs is the most financially well-off department, because after the development of the pharmaceutical industry, all its income has been allocated to them, and some commonly used ointments and pills have begun to be produced in large areas, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs' finances will definitely soar next year.

After the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there is the budget of the Ministry of Officials, and the budget of the Ministry of Officials is mainly the salary and welfare of the administrative staff of the imperial court.

Zhou Xun finished the report and took 800,000 yuan from the budget, and all departments did not object, these money are their salaries, and the opposition to the ministry is to oppose their own welfare!

Seeing that the financial budget was still 2.4 million yuan, Shangshu Li Fu hurriedly said: "Next year, the Ministry of Cao Transportation is expected to increase the construction of flood control dams and irrigation projects in major rivers such as the Huai River and the Yellow River and other flood-prone areas...... A total of 1 million is required. In addition, the Ministry of Transport plans to start construction of a north-south canal connecting the Huai River and the Yellow River this year, and this project alone will require a budget of 1 million yuan. ”

"What! Build a canal? ”

"A canal between the Yellow and Huai Empire?"

"This, this project is too big!"

"Our current finances are not enough to support such a huge water conservancy project."

The rest of the ministries had very much opinion on the canal repair plan proposed by the Ministry of Water and Transport, and they all spoke out in denial, and it was obvious that the Ministry of Water and Transport proposed such a huge water conservancy project in order to expand the interests of its own department. Once this canal is completed, the connection between the north and the south will be greatly strengthened, and the Ministry of Cao Yun can set up card fees on the canal, and it is estimated that the Ministry of Cao Yun will be able to develop when the time is to collect tolls.

Li Fu didn't care about the sarcasm of others, he looked around and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Yellow River and the Huai River are two of the seven major water systems in China, and they have been the main waterways connecting the east and west since ancient times. Needless to say, the importance of transportation is not mentioned below, look at the east-west artery that is under construction, once completed, it will have a huge impact on the empire. ”

But if you look back at the north-south direction, the three major rivers of the Yellow River, the Huaishui River, and the Yangtze River run through the east and west, blocking the north-south exchange. If we can build this canal through the Huanghuai River in the next few years, and then connect several major rivers in the south in the future, with the shipbuilding capacity of our dynasty, this canal will definitely become a golden waterway connecting the north and the south! ”

"What Li Shangshu said is that this year, there will be about 18 joint-stock farms growing cotton and wheat in the Yellow River and Huai River areas, so the Huanghuai Water Conservancy must be strengthened." Zuga, the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, began to support the plan of the Ministry of Transportation.

Everyone in the hall was talking and couldn't make a decision, so they had to look at Sima Shu on the dragon chair, waiting for the emperor to decide.

Sima Shu nodded and said: "The water conservancy of the Yellow River is being repaired, and the water conservancy on both sides of the Huai River will have to be repaired sooner or later. As for the canal that runs through the Huanghuai, well, it's not bad, Li Shangshu is right, this canal can greatly promote our economic development. Moreover, we can complete this canal in five years, and this year the finances are a little tight, so be it! Let's invest 500,000 yuan first! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Fu said excitedly.

Since the emperor agreed, the others had no opinion, and they listened to the meaning of Sima Shu's words, which obviously meant that they attached great importance to this grand canal that ran through the north and south. However, if you think about it carefully, in the future, the whole country will be unified, and this north-south Grand Canal is indeed very important.

Next it was the turn of the Ministry of Agriculture, the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture was not too much, but it also got 200,000 yuan, mainly for the opening of agricultural stations and research on agricultural technology.

The budget was divided several times, and only 700,000 yuan remained.

The Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, and the Intelligence Department have not yet received their budgets.

The Ministry of Industry then only got 100,000 yuan, and the Ministry of Industry really did not need to spend any money, and the salaries of the administrative staff were all paid by the Ministry of Officials, and they did not need to do anything to study technology, they usually only needed to do a good job in management.

The intelligence department has received 300,000 yuan, and the Military Intelligence Agency and the Intelligence Agency are expected to establish a complete intelligence system in the Western Regions and Mobei this year.

The rest was divided among the remaining ministries, of which the Ministry of Rites took the lion's share, and they needed to build a new hotel to entertain envoys from all over the world. At the same time, 100,000 yuan was used by the Ministry of Households to help poor households.

So far, after discussions at various sides, Hongwu's financial budget for the second year has been basically completed, and the interests of all parties have basically been taken into account. (To be continued......)