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In July of the first year of Shenwu, as the political situation of the Chinese Empire was further stabilized, under the control of the policy of recuperation and recuperation, the people survived the various threats and influences brought about by the troubled times.

With the harvest of summer grain this year, the common people in the northern region got rid of the relief of the imperial court and achieved self-sufficiency. In the south, on the other hand, a bumper harvest was achieved, and the surplus grain was sold, and the surplus money was in hand, which made the southern economy the first to liven up.

The north here refers to the extreme north and the traditional concept of the north two regions in general. The summer grain includes spring wheat grown in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Mongolia in the far north, as well as in the northwest region, which is sown in March~April in spring, matures in July~August, and is harvested in about 100 days. Although the yield is not as good as that of corn, it can meet the living needs of the common people and reduce the financial burden of the imperial court before the full promotion of high-yield food crops such as corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes. In addition to the extreme north, winter wheat is planted in northern Liaodong, North China, southern Xinjiang, Shaanxi, provinces in the Yangtze River basin and South China, sown in 10~11 months in autumn, and matures in 5~6 months of the following year, which can also be harvested with summer grain.

In response to the catastrophe brought about by the Xiaoice period, food has always been one of the most critical factors in the survival of the empire. As a result, the imperial government had to suspend the development of industry and commerce in the country, and instead adopted a policy of heavy agriculture in order to appease the people's livelihood.

The three-year recuperation policy is about to expire, and taxes will be levied from the second year of Shenwu. Although Deng Haonan abolished a series of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the peasants only paid one tax on agriculture, and the fifty tax was the lowest tax in all dynasties, but considering that the common people still had to sell grain in exchange for clothing, housing and other daily necessities, the tax system of fifty taxes and one in a short period of time still put a lot of pressure on the common people.

Deng Haonan considered that his finances were still very sufficient, and Li De in Europe had already sent someone back to deliver the letter, and Deng Haonan learned of the huge profits brought by this European trade. 200 million silver dollars, Deng Haonan simply didn't know how to spend this money, so Deng Haonan decided to continue to implement the policy of rest and recuperation, continue to exempt the subjects of the empire from various taxes, and extend it for another three years.

The 70 million people of the empire did not know that their Shenwu Emperor had made more than 200 million silver dollars in Europe, and they were grateful to Emperor Shenwu for his re-announcement of continuing to exempt the world from taxes for three years, and for a time the people's personality cult of Shenwu Emperor reached a new height, and anyone who said bad things about Shenwu Emperor would be drowned by the spittle of the people, which invisibly strengthened the centralization of Shenwu Emperor.

In the imperial study, Qian Qianyi, the first assistant minister of the cabinet, asked for an audience in the house.

"Your Majesty, you have extended the tax exemption for another three years, which is naturally a blessing for the people. But the biggest beneficiaries were the merchants, who took advantage of the tax holidays to make large sums of money. ”

Deng Haonan looked at Qian Qianyi and asked, "What do you want to say?" ”

"Back to the emperor's words" Qian Qianyi said directly: "The emperor abolished the hierarchical division of Shinong, industry and commerce, etc., so that the wealthy merchants relied on their money to buy real estate, wear gold and silver, and make people of other classes feel humble."

Deng Haonan nodded, he already understood what Qian Qianyi meant. In the past, the hierarchy of farmers and merchants was strictly divided, and merchants were at the lowest level and had no status. At that time, although the merchants were rich, they did not dare to show off, the size of the house was not allowed to exceed that of the landlord, and they could only wear linen cloth, and the color of the clothes was strictly restricted. Now the new laws of the empire have abolished the hierarchical division of 369 and so on, so that the status of the merchants has been turned over at once, second only to the gentry, and even many big merchants have obtained knighthoods, surpassing the ordinary gentry. For example, Li De of the Pacific Trading Company was made a marquis, as well as the managers of some pillar enterprises and factories of the empire, they were all considered businessmen, and with Deng Haonan's proclamation as emperor, they were all awarded for their merits.

This situation is exactly what Deng Haonan wants, he needs the empire to be strong, and he must cultivate big businessmen in the form of a bourgeoisie. However, Qian Qianyi's words sounded the alarm for Deng Haonan, he must control the excessive expansion of the bourgeoisie, and must maintain the balance of domestic contradictions, otherwise the empire will also come to the bourgeoisie, it will be a joke.

Thinking of this, Deng Haonan asked Qian Qianyi to see what he had built.

Qian Qianyi then said: "If the country has no peasants to cultivate land and grow grain, the country will be unstable, if there are no scholars as officials, the country will not be able to operate, if there are no workers to work, there will be no means of production and life, and if there are no businessmen to do business, the country will have no money and be poor." It can be said that no stratum can be missing. ”

Seeing that Deng Haonan nodded in agreement, Qian Qianyi continued: "Wechen does not object to the emperor's original intention of abolishing hierarchical restrictions, so the establishment of Wechen is to control the expansion rate of businessmen, so that all levels of society can slowly adapt, rather than the current explosive development. If the merchant class expands too quickly, it will cause social unrest."

Deng Haonan nodded, agreeing with Qian Qianyi's words.

"You mean to tax merchants?"

Qian Qianyi nodded and said: "Weichen has this intention, the speed at which farmers recuperate and recuperate is not as fast as the speed at which businessmen accumulate wealth, so taxing merchants can restrain the merchant class from accumulating wealth too quickly, and on the other hand, it can just appease other grassroots and maintain the stability of the country." ”

Deng Haonan then said: "It is also a businessman who is not affected by the national disaster, does not rely on the sky for food, and does not need to recuperate like a farmer." But you can't tax merchants indiscriminately as before, what is the best plan for Lord Qian? ”

Qian Qianyi bowed down and said: "Wechen also thought about this, so he proposed to formulate commercial regulations and make detailed regulations for merchants to do business, as a proof of taxation."

Deng Haonan nodded, thinking that this method was good, so he ordered Qian Qianyi to deal with it.

Before the Ming Dynasty, there were ready-made regulations in commerce, but they were too harsh. After the establishment of the Chinese Empire, the various legal changes to the Ming Dynasty were not large, because the formulation of laws was a huge systematic project, which could not be completed in a short time.

However, Deng Haonan was not idle, and when he was regent, he began to order people to work on the formulation of a new legal code.

Therefore, when Qian Qianyi proposed to reform the commercial code, Deng Haonan promulgated the prepared new code by the way.

In August of the first year of Shenwu, Deng Haonan promulgated new codes such as the Civil Code, the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, the Military Code, and the Royal Code.

The new code was basically completed in accordance with Deng Haonan's will, while the royal code was a groundbreaking rule that members of the royal family were not allowed to compete with the people for profit, which made the whole dynasty boast a lot about the fairness of the new emperor.

In the commercial code, the Ming Dynasty did not have a good policy to promote the development of industry and commerce, so the commercial code made more reference to the commercial code of the European Dutch Republic, encouraged the development of industry and commerce, and severely punished tax evasion and tax evasion.

The Criminal Code and the Civil Code basically follow those of the Ming Dynasty, with slight changes.

Among them, the Penal Code mainly abolished the cruel treatment of prisoners, and abolished the ten major tortures, such as cruel punishments such as women sitting on tiger chairs. Among them, the most worthy of praise from the people is that Deng Haonan abolished the punishment of the civil prosecutor who was punished with 20 boards first, and kneeling on the nail board to complain. Beheading, beheading, scraping, etc., were forbidden, and were replaced by shooting or hanging.

The most important feature of the Penal Code is the implementation of the three-instance final adjudication system, in which the local prefectural courts are the first instance, and appeals against the judgment are allowed to be handed over to the state courts for the second instance, and if they are not satisfied, they can continue to appeal and be handed over to the Imperial Supreme Court for trial, and after the Supreme Court has tried the case, no further appeal is allowed, and the appeal is final.

Of course, there is also a supreme right to sue, and that is to sue the royal court. Deng Haonan was not completely at ease with the Supreme Court, so a special article was added to the Criminal Code, stipulating that the emperor had the right to challenge the judgment of the Supreme Court and to open a pre-imperial trial.

The pre-imperial trial is equivalent to playing football or basketball in overtime, which is Deng Haonan's small abacus, in order to contain the power of the Supreme Court and strengthen the emperor's control over the power of the central government.

As far as the organs of state violence are concerned, the National Police Agency is only responsible for arresting prisoners and maintaining law and order, interrogating prisoners and handing them over to the courts, and detaining prisoners to prisons.

The dazzling feature of the Civil Code is that Deng Haonan restored the policy of a hundred schools of thought contending and a hundred flowers blooming in the Spring and Autumn Period, opening up a wide range of opinions, allowing people to talk about national affairs, and allowing the establishment of various patriotic organizations.

As for the Code of Martial Arts, in addition to the continuation of the previous military regulations. According to the provisions of the Code, the military department is the general staff. It consists of the Territorial Defense Command, the National Civilian Garrison Command, the Military Police Law Enforcement Command, the General Logistics Command, the General Armament Department, and the United Front Work Department.

The Territorial Defense Command, referred to as the Ministry of National Defense, established the Imperial Chinese Navy and Army Combat Readiness Duty Force, called the Royal Army and the Royal Navy, as the Empire's foreign war aircraft. The National Armed Forces Command established an armed National Guard to respond to domestic insurgency and disaster relief, known as the Territorial Guard on land and the Coast Guard at sea. The Gendarmerie Law Enforcement Command is an organ that includes military tribunals, military arbitration, etc., and is the judicial organ within the army. Among them, the Military Intelligence and the Security Bureau were under his name, but they were directly subordinate to the imperial family and under the direct leadership of the emperor. The General Logistics Department is responsible for the supply of all military units, the General Armament Department is responsible for military scientific research, and the United Front Work Department is responsible for reserve forces and national conscription.

The Royal Army consists of three major arms, infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineer and logistics troops, among which the engineer and logistics troops are scattered among the first three arms. The army's means of transportation are all war horses, that is, cavalry, cavalry, and cavalry artillery, forming a rapid mobile strike capability.

The Marine Division was changed to a mixed infantry and artillery corps with a combination of muskets, infantry and artillery formations. The army infantry divisions that fight on the front line are called A divisions. For example, 20 field infantry guns, one engineer battalion, one communications battalion, one baggage battalion, one training battalion, and one health brigade (which is a division hospital in peacetime) have been added to the units directly under the division. The division has four infantry regiments, each with 2,000 men, each regiment with 20 field guns, including all logistics, with a total strength of 10,000 troops. The division was equipped with 100 cannons and 20,000 horses for riding and camels.

In accordance with the regulations of the Imperial Standing Army, the Ministry of War divided the army strength into 200,000 firearms units, that is, 20 infantry divisions.

Cavalry, including lancers and heavy cavalry, remains unchanged. 100,000 lancers and 100,000 heavy cavalry. At present, there are not enough heavy cavalry horses, in fact, there are only 50,000 heavy cavalry, and the remaining 50,000 are light cavalry.

The Royal Navy has a strength of 100,000 troops, and currently has two fleets, the Home Fleet and the Pacific Fleet. Among them, the home fleet is of a rapid defensive type, and it is planned to be equipped with 12 fourth-class battleships and 60 cruisers. It is divided into three detachments equally.

The North Sea Fleet is stationed at the four places of the Lushun Naval Base, the Incheon Naval Base, the Ulsan Naval Base, and the Vladivostok Naval Base, defending the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Whale Sea, and patrolling the area as far north as the Bering Strait.

The East China Sea Fleet is stationed at Dengzhou Naval Base, Lianyungang Naval Base, Zhoushan Naval Base, Baoshan Naval Base, Shuri Naval Base, and Shuangjidao Naval Base. Defend the East China Sea and the Black Water Ocean, and patrol to the Ryukyu Ocean and the Tamsui Ocean.

The South China Sea Fleet is stationed at Mawei Naval Base, Guangzhou Bay Naval Base, Longmen Port Naval Base, Manila Naval Base and Matapura Naval Base to defend the entire South China Sea.

The Pacific Fleet is divided into the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, the First Fleet is stationed at Pearl Harbor Naval Base and controls the North Pacific, also known as the North Ocean Fleet. The Second Fleet is based at Naval Base Guam and Subic Naval Base, which controls the South Pacific Ocean and is also known as the South Ocean Fleet.

In the next 10 years, the Pacific Fleet plans to build 20 first-class battleships, 40 Sea-Lion-class third-class battleships, and 60 Beiyun-class fourth-class battleships of the same class as the Dingzhen 2nd ship, and replace all the main ships of the Pacific Fleet with battleships, keeping the level of 120 ships.

At present, there is basically no maritime threat in the North Pacific, so the Pacific Fleet Command will focus on the Central and South Pacific regions, making the Second Fleet, the South Ocean Fleet, the main force.

After the promulgation of several codes, the internal political, economic, and military codes of the Chinese Empire were about to be put on the right track.

In terms of culture, Deng Haonan also attaches great importance to it. The eight-share scholar system was abolished, the imperial examination system became a liberal arts examination system, and the six-arts scholar system became a science examination system.

The National Imperial University was established before, and the results were good. To this end, Deng Haonan began to allocate funds to establish state schools in various state capitals. Since there were not so many foreign professors and teaching assistants to help, Deng Haonan could not trust foreign missionaries to become teachers, because the age of the students in the state schools was in the formative period, so Deng Haonan decided that the state schools only taught the native culture and knowledge of the empire.

However, these students who are in the ideological stereotype period are the objects of Deng Haonan's attention. For this reason, Deng Haonan demanded that in the textbooks of state schools, the first lesson to be learned is the idea of loyalty to the monarch and serving the country, linking the concept of the motherland with their parents, and making them respect and love the king and the motherland as if they were parents.

Originally, if Deng Haonan did not have any prestige, this approach would be counterproductive. However, Deng Haonan was the god in the hearts of the Chinese people at this time, and under the strong personality cult of the Chinese people, he quickly accepted the teaching in the textbooks and became the main force to support Deng Haonan and maintain the imperial power, and gradually influenced others and the next generation, so that the royal family could continue in the land of China forever.

Deng Haonan originally wanted to realize compulsory education, but finally gave up the plan, because the first assistant Qian Qianyi and the civil and military officials did not agree.

This is the first time they collectively disagree with Deng Haonan's idea, but Deng Haonan does not blame them, because their starting point is to protect the royal family.

The reason is very simple, Qian Qianyi gave an explanation. That is, since ancient times, if the emperor wants to control the people and achieve long-term rule, he must pursue a policy of wisdom and foolishness. Fooling the people is a must work for every emperor, otherwise the folk wisdom will be turned on and will threaten the imperial power.

Deng Haonan also knows this truth, but he also knows that paper can't hold fire, and in the next three hundred years, the common people will be wise and enlightened, and the foolish people will be gone. If the policy of fooling the people is implemented now, then it is not possible for his descendants to play the matter of burning books and pit Confucianism like the Manchu rulers, and then leading the people to regress and be bullied is what Deng Haonan does not want to see.

However, Deng Haonan was not in a hurry. He knows the truth of home and everything, so in the court, he likes to guide those old antiques slowly, rather than doing it with them.

In September of the first year of Shenwu, Deng Haonan got an even happier thing for him, that is, the Ottoman Turkish Empire actually agreed to let the Chinese Empire be responsible for digging the Suez Canal.

In the imperial study, Deng Haonan looked at the power of attorney of the Ottoman Empire, and on the side were the expressions of joy on the faces of the civil and military officials.

Undoubtedly, allowing the Chinese Empire to dig the Suez Canal would bring about a seismic change in the empire's trade. The excavation of the Suez Canal is equivalent to shortening the distance to Europe by half and saving half a year. Li De's report has long made the officials ecstatic, in Deng Haonan's words, such a huge profit, the income of the officials will be increased by two or three times, high salary and honesty is Deng Haonan's main means to eliminate domestic corrupt officials.

The military generals saw the great military value of the Suez Canal, which was the gateway to Europe, and if the empire controlled it, it would be equivalent to opening the door to Europe at sea, and its strategic value was self-evident.

"Your Majesty, the Ottoman Empire agreed so happily, will there be fraud?"

Qian Qianyi was the first to raise doubts.

True, when Deng Haonan's envoy arrived in Constantinople, the Ottoman Emperor Murad IV learned that the Chinese Empire was willing to help them dig the Suez Canal.

This is truly unusual

The ministers fell into thought, and then you look at me, I look at you, and you feel that something is wrong