"I must remind you here that you should not think that the existing thousands of troops are enough to protect our personal safety and interests, our army is indeed stronger than its opponents of the same era in terms of combat effectiveness, but the shortcoming is also very obvious, that is, the size of the troops. Yan Chu made a gesture, and the orderly immediately hung a new map on the wall, and it could be seen that the Military Commission had also made quite adequate preparations for today's meeting.

This new map covers a much wider area, including almost all the areas that can be reached by the current Haihan ships.

Yan Chujie pointed to the map and continued to explain: "Everyone, please see, in addition to Hainan Island, we are currently actively expanding our forces to the northeast and south, and we have also achieved good results, but the land we occupy is not a terra nullius, and it must be guarded by armed forces. You might as well think about it: In such a vast area as the mouth of the Pearl River, can we really actually control the land forces of a company? In the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula, there are still four planned port areas waiting to be developed, and these port areas will be our overseas territories in the future. There is also the five-year plan that we drew up before the crossing, one of which is to achieve actual military control of Hainan Island, and it is now the third year after the crossing, and we are still quite far from this goal, and in order to achieve actual control over the whole island, I believe that the establishment of the militia stationed on the island should be maintained at least two regiments, and we only have two battalions now. ”

When everyone at the meeting heard this, they began to talk to each other, after all, Yan Chujie's tone this time was different from the past, and he had clearly proposed the establishment of a regiment-level combat system. If the current size of the militia army stationed on the island is to be expanded to the regimental level, then at least half of the number of troops will be increased, and if the military has always pursued a "strengthened" establishment, it will have to be doubled on the basis of the existing size.

In the case of ordinary militia soldiers, the annual salary, ordnance and uniforms, daily consumption, training expenses, and so on, add up to an average of 200 yuan per person per year to maintain, not including the wartime rewards for formal combat, post-war pension awards, and so on. At present, the establishment of the first battalion of the army is a reinforced battalion of about 1,000 people, which means that at least 200,000 yuan of military expenditure will be spent to increase the establishment of one battalion. This is only a very conservative estimate, and if you calculate the cost of recruitment, training, and the elimination of soldiers in the training process, the actual military expenditure will have to increase by at least one-tenth. In addition, in the establishment of the army, battalion-level units will also be equipped with artillery companies, although artillery is a separate branch of the army, but the establishment of an additional artillery company is also an expenditure that cannot be ignored.

What is the concept of 200,000 yuan? This is almost half of the annual output value of the Shengli Port Yanchang Commune, and about one-thirtieth of the Haihan financial revenue last year, and it is definitely not a small amount that is dispensable. The military's previous expansion plan has always been based on companies, and this time it can be regarded as a lion's big mouth.

"Is it really necessary to directly expand to a regimental-level combat unit?" Gu Kai first questioned: "At present, the company-level officers of the militia unit are basically our own people, if they are expanded to the regimental level, can the company-level officers still maintain the current specifications?"

"If it is expanded to the regimental level, it will probably be necessary to promote some naturalized civilian officers, at least there will be a large number of naturalized civilian officers in the positions at the deputy company level. However, I don't think this is a problem, because we have gradually discovered and trained a number of qualified grassroots officers in several operations, and let them gradually take over the command of the front-line troops, which is also a necessary process. In order to show that his views are grounded, Yan Chujie also gave an example: "For example, grassroots officers like Gao Qiao Nan and Yu Tiezhu have no problem with loyalty and personal ability, and they can be promoted to be a company commander now." And our own people can also rise to the top, be promoted to the battalion headquarters, regiment headquarters, or enter the general staff. ”

"No, no, no, I think you misunderstood me. Gu Kai shook his head and said, "I'm not worried about the career prospects of our people in the military system, but whether these naturalized civilian officers can reach the same or similar command level after they are promoted." You must know that they don't know how to play high-tech things like radio and walkie-talkies, and the command system that they can understand and use should still stay at the level of gongs and drums. ”

Yan Chujie said: "Don't underestimate naturalized civilian officers, these people don't have much education and have limited knowledge, but as long as they have potential, they are basically selected into the officer training class for long-term training." Even if they don't have walkie-talkies to use, but with all the practical examples and battle-tested tactics that we have brought with them hundreds of years later, and with maps, sandboxes, and lethal weapons to assist them, I can guarantee that the tactical level and awareness of these naturalized civilian officers will be far superior to that of their contemporaries. They're not stupider than you and me, they just need a window into the outside world. ”

"How to solve the problem of expanding military spending? This part is probably not included in this year's budget, right?" Seeing that Yan Chujie could not be argued with from this angle, Gu Kai had no choice but to change the direction and question.

"It's true that it's not in the budget, but this year's revenue in South Vietnam is also not included in the budget. Yan Chujie defended unhurriedly: "Our capture in Hue, plus the military expenses repaid by Shenglong Province after the war, and after deducting our combat expenses, there are still considerable gains. Some of this has already been used for the expansion of the Navy in the first half of the year, but there is still some surplus that can be used for the expansion of the Army. ”

When Yan Chujie said this, he proudly stretched out two fingers and shook them, "At least the establishment of two battalions is enough." ”

"But military spending is not a one-time investment, and the expansion of two battalions this year means that next year's military expenditure will also have to increase by hundreds of thousands!" Gu Kai continued to question Yan Chujie's statement.

"This is normal! Will our fiscal revenue next year stay at this year's level?" Yan Chujie spread his hands and said, "If that is the case, I think the object of your complaint should not be the military, but the commercial and financial departments under the leadership of General Shi." ”

Schneider smiled and said, "I haven't said a word, why do I have to lie down and get shot?"

"Who told you to keep the money bag in charge?" Yan Chujie teased.

"Well, since we talk about money, I'll also briefly say my personal opinion. Schneider put away his smile and said in a deep voice: "At present, we still maintain a considerable surplus in the import and export trade of Guangdong, and I am personally optimistic about the growth of trade income in the coming year, but considering that almost all of the construction projects currently underway are large and slow to achieve results, and the expenditure spent on resettlement will increase year by year, I think it is still necessary to be cautious in increasing the military budget next year." Of course, I personally do not object to the military's intention to expand the military, but I hope that the military will also consider the financial pressure that the size of the military will bring about in the coming period. ”

"What do you mean is that the military can be expanded, but the military has to figure out how to increase the military budget?" Yan Chujie quickly sorted out a series of official phrases from Schneider.

"At least that's the mental preparation. Schneider happily admitted Yan Chujie's speculation: "After all, this year and next, the Shilu project is our first priority." The total amount of money required for this project will be more than all of our colonization projects combined, and in order to ensure that this project does not suffer from delays due to funding problems, we may have to tighten control over other budgets, including military budgets, in the coming period. ”

"That means that in order to raise military spending, we have to launch a new round of war again?" Yan Chujie shook his head again and again: "It's not impossible to feed the war with war, but we don't have many opponents to choose from now, Daming is the closest but can't fight, Annan is an ally, the Portuguese are a trading partner, and these two are not easy to do casually." The Spaniards and the Dutch had no scruples, but the problem was that our naval forces were not enough, and we could not reach them at all, and we were not sure of winning at sea with these two companies. ”

"You don't have to use the form of guò war to get profits, you can think of other tricks. Schneider extended the topic: "For example, you can increase the volume of arms trade, and your military also has a share in the income from the export of various weapons and military supplies by the Haihan military industry, isn't it? 200,000 yuan is only a few thousand muskets or one or two hundred artillery pieces for the arms trade, and as long as we are willing to sell them, the market demand is not a problem at all." Seriously, it's time for us to consider working with Daming and selling weapons directly to the authorities. The demand and solvency of the Ming military are not comparable to Annan or Xu Xinsu. ”

When Schneider said this, his eyes turned to Tao Donglai, and this kind of foreign policy adjustment must definitely seek Tao Donglai's opinion.

Tao Donglai, who had been listening quietly, saw that everyone's eyes began to focus on him, so he responded: "It's not impossible to cooperate with the Daming government, but the main thing is to see what the external conditions of the general environment are. To put it simply, it is to see whether the Ming Dynasty really needs external help like ours now, and if it is done properly, we will certainly be able to obtain rich economic benefits from the arms trade, and even reach some quid pro quo that is conducive to our own development as in Annan. But if the operation is not good, or the timing is not right, it is easy for the Ming to see us as a threat and generate unnecessary hostility. ”

"On the question of the external environment...... Ning Qi, what do you think?" Tao Donglai showed his attitude, and then quickly kicked the ball to Ning Qi's feet.

As one of the very few people in the executive committee who are familiar with the historical environment, Ning Qi can be regarded as duty-bound, cleared his throat and said: "The biggest thing in the first half of this year is probably that Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to determine Wei Zhongxian's case, Cui Chengxiu, Liu Zhixuan and others were sentenced to beheading, and then more than 100 co-defendants were confiscated into the army, and some of them were imprisoned for three years and cut their posts for the people, so they were lucky enough to escape. In addition, there was a famine in Shaanxi, and some peasants organized an uprising, but it did not form a large climate, and it was quickly suppressed by Hong Chengchou and his troops. ”

"Is there anything we have to do with us?" asked Becks.

Ning Qi nodded and said: "There is also a related thing, Xu Guangqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, wrote to Emperor Chongzhen because the old calendar was inaccurate in estimating the solar eclipse that occurred in May this year, and asked to refer to the Western calendar, which was approved by the emperor, and let Xu Guangqi be responsible for supervising the compilation of the new calendar, so when communicating with the Ming court in the future, at least there is something in common in this regard." ”

"But that doesn't have a direct effect on what we've just said. Yan Chujie was also a little impatient and said: "Are there any major military-related events?" ”

"Big deal?" Ning Qi thought for a moment before nodding in response: "There is really a big event this month, Yuan Chonghuan beheaded Mao Wenlong on Shuangdao, this is a big deal, right?"

Yuan Chonghuan's overkill of Mao Wenlong has different historical accounts. Dong Qichang, Yuan Keli, Sun Chengzong and others have a relatively positive evaluation of Mao Wenlong's behavior of resisting the enemy on the border, and there are two stone tablets on Dalu Island that stood in the sixth year of the Apocalypse and the first year of Chongzhen, one of which is engraved with Mao Wenlong's oath to kill the enemy: "Referring to the day to restore the whole Liao, the look is pregnant with this, I serve the country with my heart, and loyalty refers to this." It can be seen that this person still has a loyal and patriotic side.

In history, most of the negative evaluations of him pointed out that Mao Wenlong was arrogant, reckless, and deliberately exaggerated his military exploits in order to ask the imperial court for more military salaries and supplies. However, Yuan Chonghuan recklessly killed Mao Wenlong for the twelve major crimes, but directly led the local garrison to be disheartened, so that later there was a situation of treason and defection to the enemy.

When Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, he probably didn't expect that his disregard for the emperor's order would become one of his life talismans in the future. Only half a year later, Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned for poor command. In August of the following year, he was sentenced to Ling Chi for two crimes: negotiating peace with the Qing army and killing Mao Wenlong without authorization, and his family lived for 3,000 miles, and all his family property was confiscated, which can be described as the end of the family's ruin.

The controversy over Yuan Chonghuan lasted for hundreds of years in another time and space, with some believing him to be a national hero and others believing that he was a traitor who fornicated with the Manchus. However, Ning Qi did not intend to provoke controversy here, but passed it over and pointed to the key point of the problem: "In the second half of this year, the Houjin Hui army was divided into three deer, attacking the pass from Da'ankou, Longjing Pass, and Hongshankou, and fighting all the way to the capital. Although they still withdrew at the end of the year, this entry still caused great losses and impacts to Daming. If we want to reach military cooperation with the Ming Dynasty, we can consider how to take advantage of the military movements in the north in the second half of this year. ”