"Military spending is too great, and some of the troops must be reduced."

Money is made fast, but it is spent faster. This year's financial income is quite gratifying, but when Liu Jun carefully looked at Long Han's financial expenditure report for the second year, his expression was very entangled.

An army of millions sounds exciting, but the cost of raising an army of millions can make people's hearts bleed. This is not a million Ming guards, nor is it a government army in the Sui and Tang dynasties, this is a new standing army, similar to the professional army of the Song Dynasty.

In order to support his huge professional army, more than 70 percent of the annual expenditure of the Great Song Dynasty was spent on the army. And now the situation of the Han is not much better, if it were not for the victories in the last few wars, especially the filling of the spoiled war profits obtained after the annexation of Japan, it is estimated that the finance secretary would have cried with him a long time ago.

Dahan now looks thriving, cooking oil on fire. However, the general increase in salaries and commodity prices has led to a gradual increase in the salaries of the Han soldiers and a significant increase in equipment costs.

After the last round of reductions, the Imperial Army and Navy still have one million. In this million-strong army, the proportion of officers is very high, and the number is staggering, as many as more than 160,000, in addition, the number of non-commissioned officers is also very large, and the number of non-commissioned officers has reached more than 500,000, and the number of ordinary soldiers is even less than that of non-commissioned officers, only more than 300,000.

Such a ratio of officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers certainly makes the army's combat effectiveness very high, but it also makes the army's salary expenditure alone very high. The salaries and benefits of officers alone are as high as more than 50 million yuan a year, the salaries and benefits of noncommissioned officers are even more than 60 million, and the salaries and benefits of ordinary soldiers are also more than 30 million. Combined, the three items amounted to nearly 150 million silver dollars.

This is not only the salaries and benefits of officers and soldiers, but also the expenses for equipment training, training expenses, and food and drink are also a larger part of military expenditure. The cavalry's horses, the artillerymen's artillery, the navy's warships, the construction and maintenance of military camps and fortresses in various places, the navy's bases, ports, and coastal defense guns, and the ships of the army's naval divisions.

There are also military academies such as army and sea artillery. various training camps for non-commissioned officers, and so on.

These expenses have been added, plus the expenses of the war, the total military expenditure this year has reached more than 600 million silver dollars, and Liu Jun's stomach hurts when he sees it.

"We must reduce the army again and cut military spending." Liu Jun clenched his fists and said to the Secretary of Finance and the Ministry of War, as for the privy envoy Fu Shan, he could only sit helplessly on the side.

He only controlled the military order system of the empire, and the military expenditure budget, equipment, logistics, and salaries and benefits were all under the Ministry of War and the Department of Finance.

"Another 200,000 cuts!"

Liu Jun could not afford such a large military expenditure at all, and this year he still captured Japan and recovered Liaodong. It also merged Korea, otherwise, it would be impossible for the imperial court to have two billion revenues. However, although the military expenditure of 600 million yuan this year also includes a large amount of war expenditure, the remaining expenditure is still very large. Military expenditures are available every year, and the imperial court cannot afford such large expenditures every year.

It is also impossible for the imperial court to reduce the salaries of the soldiers, and it is undoubtedly foolish to do so.

A professional army is the only way forward for the army in the future, and professional soldiers must guarantee their income. The consequence of raising the army of Hanako is when you need the sword of the army. You'll find that he's just a painted wooden sword, and it's still himself who gets to the pit. is like Zhu Yuanzhang, who always boasts that he raises millions of soldiers without spending a grain of grain in the imperial court. The results are known to everyone.

"Another 200,000 cuts?" Fu Shan was surprised, the imperial court had just cut 200,000 yuan, and it was going to cut 200,000 yuan again, and this knife was too fierce.

"There are not many soldiers. At present, the surrounding situation of the Han Dynasty is relatively good, and at present, only the south and west sides need to use troops. 800,000 troops is a bit much, and besides, we can cut another 200,000. There is also a huge reserve, and the Mongolian princes, the Imperial Association Army, and the Foreign Legion add up to two or three hundred thousand, which are also available at critical times. ”

The Mongol Legion, the Imperial Legion, and the Foreign Legion are the three supernumerary forces of the Empire and are not part of the Empire's active service. Moreover, they belong to the army that brings their own equipment, the court does not pay salaries, and solves the supply and other problems by themselves. Transferring them to the battlefield, the imperial court can also sell them armaments, grain and grass, and can also share from their spoils, so Liu Jun feels that this kind of army is easy to use, cheap and trouble-free.

Compared to these three legions, the Imperial army had to spend an average of six hundred silver dollars a year, which was too expensive.

"Also, that new ship plan of the Navy, cut it. In addition to the construction already started, the rest of the new ships were temporarily stopped and put on hold. ”

The Imperial Navy now has a lot of warships, although many of them are old-style, even remodeled from merchant ships, and in the eyes of the Navy, they are transitional, but Liu Jun feels that he can no longer support the Navy's excessive expansion plan.

New ships must be built, but the number and tonnage must be strictly controlled.

At present, the navy has five major fleets, and there are more than a dozen sub-fleets below, and it seems that it is necessary to appropriately streamline and merge them.

"The East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet were merged, the original eight sub-fleets of the two fleets were merged into four, the two sub-fleets of the Royal Fleet were merged into one, the four fleets of the North Sea Fleet were merged into three, and the Western Fleet still retained only one fleet. Both the Yangtze River and Heilongjiang fleets have to be reduced in size and streamlined. ”

Liu Jun made a drastic move, and in the end, the navy only retained nine fleets, and the army sailors retained two, but each fleet had to be reduced and streamlined.

Some old warships were directly decommissioned, and there was no need for the fleets to keep so many gunboats and patrol ships outside the ships. Liu Jun even demanded that the number of soldiers on each warship be reduced, one of which was that the number of marines on each warship was reduced. Since the Imperial Navy is now taking the route of giant ships and cannons, and it is a front-line battle to steal the limelight, there is no need to keep so many marines on the battleships.

After all, in the past, the marines on the battleship were more for the purpose of dealing with the gangside jumper battle, but under the current tactics, there is basically no such tactic, and the combination of marines can be reduced. As for the landing operation, it would be good to use special transport ships to transport them, and each warship would still be specifically responsible for the battle, and the number of marines would be reduced, and a few gunners could be added, and the total number of people on the ships would be reduced, and each ship would be reduced by more than a dozen or twenty.

The navy retains more than 16,000 people in each fleet, with a total of 150,000, two fleets of the army's naval divisions with 5,000 men each, and 18 towns of the army's field troops, each of which has jurisdiction over two divisions and four associations, with a full strength of 20,000. The garrison was also reduced to 280,000.

In this way, the army was reduced to 650,000, the navy to 150,000, and the total number of active duty was 800,000.

Another 200,000 troops will be reduced, and the navy's plan for new warships will be shelved, and most of the ships will be eliminated, and the army will also reduce some military installations and reduce the number of cavalry and artillery.

Military spending is expected to be cut by 40 percent, and if there is no war spending, military spending can be reduced to about 200 million silver dollars. This amount is estimated to account for 20 percent of the revenue in normal revenue. If we add in the war expenditure, it is possible that the military budget will reach 300 million.

"In this way, the original Jianzhou Town has also been laid off, and the North Korean army has also been laid off."

Liu Jun felt that the expenses were still large, and now that the Jurchens had also been destroyed, Liu Jun felt that there was no need to keep the Jurchen soldiers in Jianzhou Town, who had surrendered Haoge, and after the merger of Korea, there was no need for the Korean army to keep it.

There were 30,000 people in the town of Jianju and 50,000 in the Korean army, adding up to 80,000.

"How to settle after all the layoffs?"

Liu Jun thought about it, the Jurchens were now completely broken and scattered, so Liu Jun no longer worried about the Jurchens going back and forth, but it was also a problem for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Jianzhou Town to disperse and settle all at once. They must not be allowed to return to Jianzhou, or it will always be a trouble.

Or let them go to Siberia to open up the wasteland?

Liu Jun shook his head, the ghost place in Siberia, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, if the Jurchens are moved over, the imperial court will not be able to really control it, if they are given a chance to recuperate there, maybe they will rise up again, and it is still not very safe.

"Simply, change Jianzhou Town into a mercenary corps, just like the Imperial Association Army and the Foreign Army, and transfer them to Central and South China. Fight South Vietnam first, and when South Vietnam is finished, you can also fight Zhenla, Dacheng, Nanzhang, and Donghu. These Jurchens can't do anything but fight, let them go to Central and South China, just to make the best use of their talents. ”

Liu Jun was reluctant to continue to support the Jurchens, and after turning them into mercenaries, they became freer and the court was more economical. When they arrived in South Vietnam, they could fight as much as they wanted, and they could grab as much as they wanted, anyway, they grabbed a share of the imperial court, and they didn't have to give them a salary, and most importantly, if they were dead and disabled, the imperial court didn't have to give them a pension.

And let them stay away from the Northeast, the imperial court is also relieved, and they in the province have done something unexpected in their hometown.

Let them fight for the imperial court in Central and South China, expand the territory, and let them eat and drink spicy food for a few years, Liu Jun does not have to worry about what will be a big tail. Wars will consume them, and if they continue to fight, they will eventually be consumed.

Originally, the Koreans did not have a standing army, and their army was made up of peasants, who took turns to send civilians to serve. But in the past two years, they have also formed a standing army, and after the Han annexed Korea, the peasants who served in turn returned home, but this standing army remained.

Now Liu Jun plans to turn this North Korean army into mercenaries and send it to South Vietnam.

In this way, the imperial court reduced the number of standing troops by 80,000 to only 720,000, and the army was only 570,000. Moreover, there are two hidden dangers. After the withdrawal of the only indigenous standing army in Korea, the imperial court had no further trouble.

With the Imperial Legion, the Korean Legion, the Jurchen Legion and the Foreign Legion joining the battlefield in Central and South China, and with them charging into the front line, let them tear apart those monkeys in Indochina, and the imperial court would not need to invest too much army.

The cost of dispatching the Imperial army is very high, the wounded and the disabled are dead, and the cost of bereavement is even higher. What's more, the imperial soldiers still bought insurance, and since it was a war, of course they had to send those who didn't buy insurance first.

Wait for them to open the way, and the Imperial army will follow. (To be continued.) )