When Yinyi and Yinli bowed and withdrew, Zhenwu looked at Zhang Pengxi and said, "The study should be busy at this time, Yunqing asks to see, what is the matter?" ”

"Back to the emperor." Zhang Pengxi hurriedly bowed down and said: "The green camp salary, the implementation of the 'interest-bearing system' in the Eight Banners, the transfer of twenty percent of the elite into the navy and the new army of the Praetorian Guard, and the severance expenses, the minister's rough estimate will also cost more than 20 million taels, the officials will be added, less will be useless, more will be overwhelmed by the court, and the ministers will plead to delay the increase of officials, otherwise the treasury will be exhausted." ”

It turned out that he was worried that the silver was not enough, Zhenwu couldn't help but smile slightly, and said: "Twenty percent of the elite from the Eight Banners will be transferred to the new Praetorian Guard Army, and the merger of several major naval divisions along the coast into the navy is a matter of urgency, which must be completed as soon as possible, and must be completed before June.

As for the matter of silver, you don't have to worry, the interest-bearing silver of the Eight Banners cannot be used with state funds, otherwise it is easy to attract criticism, this silver is paid from the dividends of the shares of the 'Four Great Heng' and the ocean-going trading fleet, and the insufficient part is another idea, in short, there is no need for the imperial court to bear it, otherwise, the case of the Green Camp and the Eight Banners will become a joke and meaningless. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Pengxi couldn't help but be stunned, the so-called interest-bearing silver deposited in the 'Four Hengs' turned out to be a smokescreen, and the share dividend is the welfare of the Eight Banners, I really don't know how much the dividends of the 'Four Hengs' and ocean trade can have, and the benefits of the Eight Banners should be at least five or six million taels of silver per year, otherwise it will not be comparable to the increase in the green camp.

However, since Zhenwu took the initiative to accept it, it must not be too bad, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, he thought that Zhenwu was playing a trick of covering his ears and stealing the bell, and he didn't want him to be real. The master who also loses money has money, so the significance of the Green Camp and the Eight Banners of food and salary will be greater, and Zhenwu's control over the Eight Banners will be more solid.

Come to think of it. His heart moved, Zhenwu dared to increase his salary like this, he must have something to rely on, I don't know what basis he has? As soon as he groaned, he bowed and said: "The emperor's holy thoughts are far-reaching, the candle shines thousands of miles, and the planning is thorough, and the micro-ministers are really not in case of emergency." "A slight pause. He continued: "Although the Eight Banners do not need to be burdened by the imperial court, the navy and the new army of the Praetorian Guard have been incorporated into the division of the imperial court's economic system, and twenty percent of the elite of the Eight Banners and the three major coastal naval divisions have been merged into the navy, which is only military expenses. The imperial court was also overwhelmed. This year can still cope, next year, the ministers are afraid that the imperial court will not be able to pay this huge military salary. ”

Zhenwu nodded slightly, military expenditure has always been the bulk of the imperial court's financial expenditure. Before the salary was raised, the Eight Banners were 200,000 yuan, the Green Battalion was 560,000 yuan, and the annual military salary expenditure was around 20 million taels. The expenditure is not large, if it is expanded to 200,000, this military expenditure will be 30 million anyway, but the annual income of the imperial court is less than 40 million, and it is no wonder that Zhang Pengxi is worried about this.

After a little hesitation, he spoke: "The next few years of the Qing Dynasty." In the northwest, northeast, and overseas, it is necessary to use troops on a large scale, and it is necessary for the navy and the new Praetorian Guard to expand quickly in recent years. However, the scale of the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion will be reduced accordingly, and the total number of troops will be maintained at around one million for a long time, and when Australia, Nanyang, and the Americas develop and prosper, the number of troops may reach 1.5 million or even 2 million, but at that time, normal taxes can also support huge military spending.

The most difficult thing is that the expansion of the army in recent years, if only rely on the imperial court to support, it will inevitably increase the burden on the people, I don't want to lose a reputation for being a poor soldier, therefore, the expansion of the army, must be through plunder, especially the plundering of the Americas and Africa to make up for this huge gap, but even the plundering of the Americas and Africa will take time, at least until next year, to see results.

The imperial court could not do without surplus, and it was not easy for the treasury to save some silver, so I had no intention of using the treasury silver, and I was going to sell the shipping routes of the merchant ships at sea to raise the additional expenses for this year's additional salaries. ”

Don't use treasury silver? Zhang Pengxi was stunned when he heard this, how much silver can be raised by selling the route of merchant ships at sea? After being stunned for a while, he bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, even if you remove the interest-bearing silver of the Eight Banners, this time the salary, punishment, and increase are estimated to be more than 10 million, and the sales route can raise such a huge amount of money?" ”

Listening to Zhang Pengxi's doubts, Zhenwu smiled slightly, last year immigrated to Australia, a group of shippers fought to break the country, free transport immigrants in exchange for the route franchise, he did not agree, for fear of selling the route franchise, I didn't expect it to come in handy so quickly, a little groaning, he said: "Now the sea trade is prosperous, the Qing Navy is becoming more and more powerful, the sea route franchise is worth a lot of money, a route is less than hundreds of thousands, more than a million, raise more than 10 million, think about the problem is not very big." ”

After Zhenwu said this, Zhang Pengxi immediately reacted, Zhenwu is going to reshuffle the business sphere of influence of the maritime merchants, he couldn't help but be surprised, all the maritime merchants are all with deep backgrounds, and local officials, Zhishi officials, and court officials are inextricably linked, and the public sale of shipping routes is tantamount to a looting of maritime merchants, will it affect the reputation of the imperial court? Will it cause dissatisfaction among maritime merchants and officials?

Thinking of this, he hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, the shipping routes between Japan and the South Seas have been operated by a number of maritime merchants for a long time, and they are sold publicly, and Weichen is worried that it will damage the emperor's reputation. ”

"I don't want to be famous." Zhenwu said disapprerovingly: "With the establishment of provinces in Australia and Nanyang, the opening of Edo and Osaka in Japan, the opening of American routes, and the next African routes, European routes, Mughal Empire, Ottoman Empire, Arabia, Persia, Ceylon, Malabar and other routes will be opened immediately, and the scale of maritime commerce in the Qing Dynasty has more than doubled in the past two years."

The imperial court must make overall plans, otherwise it will not be chaotic? Even with the stigma, the route franchise must be carried out, and only in this way can the orderly and healthy competition of maritime trade be ensured. ”

Listening to this, Zhang Pengxi couldn't help but scold himself for being confused, so many new routes were opened, and the imperial court did not make this money, which was tantamount to cheapening those maritime merchants in vain, the so-called route franchise, in fact, the imperial court divided the sphere of influence for large and small maritime merchants, which was not only conducive to the management of the imperial court, but also conducive to the control of the maritime merchants by the imperial court, and it was completely foreseeable that the scale of maritime merchants would continue to grow exponentially.

He couldn't help but secretly admire, this method is really killing two birds with one stone, not only to earn a lot of money but also to strengthen the management and control of maritime business, this master as early as the introduction of maritime trade vessel management regulations, should have laid the foreshadowing, thinking of this, he bowed down and said: "The emperor is far-reaching, prevention is not happening, repeatedly pushing through the old and bringing forth the new, which really makes Weichen and other shameful, this is really a move for the benefit of the country and the people." ”

Zhenwu smiled slightly, this silver is enough to cope with this year's salary, next year, Africa's gold and the income from the slave trade can completely fill the hole of the increase in military spending, if the gold mines in South Africa can be developed, there is no pressure to expand the army to 1.5 million.

After a little hesitation, Zhang Pengxi spoke again: "Your Majesty, Weichen is still a little worried, there are as many as 10 million silver coins for additional salaries, and the sudden increase in so much silver in the market will lead to the high value of silver?" ”

Zhenwu glanced at him appreciatively, and said: "Yun Qing's words are really the words of the old Cheng to seek the country, silver is expensive and hurts the peasants, silver is cheap and hurts the people, and the sudden increase in tens of millions of salaries will inevitably lead to the high price of silver, but the imperial court only needs to control the price of grain and salt, the price of salt is easy to control, and the price of grain can only be purchased at a low price from Nanyang to stabilize it, which is also the reason why I delayed the distribution of green camp grain and salary to August. ”

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, and then continued: "The importance of circulating silver money, there is no need to repeat it, however, since the pre-Ming Dynasty, the imperial court has been out of control over silver, the inflow and outflow of silver, especially the inflow, is simply powerless, although I have carried out customs innovation, but started late, little effect, in order to prevent a large amount of silver in and out, the imperial court must strictly control overseas trade, in addition, must also control a certain amount of silver mines, gold mines, only in this way, can effectively control the fluctuation of silver prices."

Compared with silver, the stability of gold is better, European countries love gold more, therefore, the Qing Dynasty must also store a large amount of gold, in case the price of silver fluctuates too much to affect the national economy and people's livelihood, Africa is rich in gold, I have decided to conquer Africa, the implementation of African separation, this matter, you can release some rumors. ”

Conquest of Africa! Zhang Pengxi couldn't help but be surprised, the division of the Americas had just begun, how could he have to conquer Africa again, was it too hasty, but Zhenwu's tone was not to discuss with him, and besides, he didn't know much about the situation in Africa, so naturally he couldn't say anything, so he hurriedly bowed down and said: "Weichen Zun." ”

Zhenwu nodded slightly, and then asked: "Green camp salary, do you have any words in the study?" ”

The four ministers in the study room, how can they have no opinion on the green camp and the Eight Banners to pay the same salary, and after a little hesitation, Zhang Pengxi bowed down and said: "Back to the emperor, it is indeed quite a complaint, but there are many scruples, no one dares to speak, not only in the study, but also in the princes and nobles, Wei Chen secretly thinks that if this matter is discussed openly and honestly, it may be more appropriate." ”

Open and honest talk? What would be the result? Zhenwu frowned slightly, the Manchus are already few, and they have always regarded themselves as masters, and the green camp and the eight banners are paid together, this is a clear matter to improve the status of the Han people, can they still be expected to accept it willingly? It's impossible.

Now although the Eight Banners are becoming more and more corrupt, but there is still a battle force, a number of princes and nobles still have illusions about the Eight Banners, and even they are reluctant to give up the Eight Banners. This matter can only be forced, and as for the dissatisfaction in their hearts, they can only look for opportunities to slowly enlighten.

After pondering for a long time, he said softly: "There have been a lot of affairs in the study these days, you should kneel down first." ”