In the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China, in 4362 and 1665, Zhao Han was already 48 years old.

Qian Qianyi died of illness at home.

Song Yingxing is critically ill.

Pang Chunlai is critically ill.

Huang Shun, the governor of the Houjun army stationed in Beijing, asked to return to the south to recuperate because of a serious illness. Hu Dinggui was transferred from Shenyang to Beijing to take over the entire northern military, and Vance Sitong, the deputy governor of the later army, was promoted to Shenyang.

In the previous year, the national annual income was 79.6 million taels (including local provinces).

Among them, the agricultural tax was 34.79 million taels (accounting for 43.7%), the industrial and commercial tax was 17.35 million taels (accounting for 21.8%), the tariff was 24.52 million taels (accounting for 30.8%), and the overseas consular delivery was 2.94 million taels (accounting for 3.7%).

Not only has the state finances increased, but the structure of fiscal revenues has also undergone tremendous changes.

Ten years ago, agricultural taxes accounted for more than 60 percent, but now they have fallen by more than 10 percentage points, but the total amount of agricultural taxes has actually increased steadily.

The proportion of industrial and commercial taxes, tariffs and overseas revenues is increasing rapidly, and the tariffs of more than 24 million taels are really scary.

The annual increase in industrial and commercial taxes is due to the promotion of the steam engine. In many industries such as textiles, mining, and smelting, the use of steam engines is becoming more and more frequent. Of course, the continuous increase in the country's population is also one of the main reasons for the prosperity of industry and commerce.

It's too much to produce, and it has to be sold.

Japan, Korea, the Western Regions, the South Seas, and Southeast Asia, international trade was almost monopolized by Chinese merchants.

Even the spices of the South Seas and Southeast Asia were purchased through Chinese merchants, and European, Persian, Arab and Indian merchants could only buy and transship from Chinese merchants. Unlike European countries, Zhao Han did not force small countries to grant monopoly rights, but purely competed with Chinese businessmen themselves.

Chinese businessmen are too involved, not only competing with foreign businessmen, but also competing with their own people, constantly raising the purchase price of spices and tobacco, and those small countries make more money by selling local products.

With the opening of the Indian and American markets, tariffs have skyrocketed again, and more industrial products have been exported, especially textiles.

As a result of the Mughal emperors' exorbitant expropriations (slaughtering Hindu traders as pigs) and the alluvial accumulation of cheap cotton cloth in China, India's traditional textile industry in the Ganges Valley was in a state of virtual collapse. After Aurangzeb ascended the throne, religious persecution was so severe that many Hindu traders fled Mughal land with their families and relocated to Chinese ports to earn a living.

The development of the American market has made the life of the American people better, but it has washed the Dutch textile industry into pieces.

Just last year, there were finally Jiangsu maritime merchants who couldn't hold back. The trading company failed to compete in Asia and decided to follow Li Quan to the Americas, and the first fleet consisted of only three merchant ships, but it made a round trip, removing various costs and expenses, and making eight times the net profit.

There is only eight times the net profit, and this is still because of the high salaries of the crew.

The senior crew is paid five times the salary, the junior crew is paid three times the salary, and a settling-in allowance must be paid in advance, otherwise no one wants to venture to the Americas.

The current state of finances is no longer incomprehensible to the ministers.

A few years ago, I was worried about the fiscal deficit, but in the blink of an eye, the imperial court had money, and it was able to surplify millions every year.

Cabinet.

Wu Yingji took out the data given by the Ministry of Finance: "In the past seven years, the average annual growth rate of industrial and commercial taxes and customs duties has exceeded 6%. Especially after Portugal married Chittagong, countless Indian cotton was shipped to Chittagong, which solved the problem of insufficient cotton supply. Cotton spinning factories in Jiangnan are increasing production, and more and more new cotton mills are opening. ”

Zhu Shunshui sighed: "I don't know if it's good or bad." When I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year, there were two textile factories in the town, and there were hundreds of male and female workers combined. Counting the running boat transportation, more than 1,000 people rely on the two families for a living. The factory's chimneys are tall and large, and black smoke floats all day long, and the tables of nearby villagers can be stained with black ash. ”

Chen Maosheng said: "Anyway, the life of the common people is better than before. ”

"That's the same," Zhu Shunshui nodded, "The workers are all solid families, especially skilled female workers, housework and children are handed over to the in-laws, and the women have become the pillars of the family." Families that do not work have a loss of income. There are also those who spin and weave their own fabrics, all of which are woven to wear by themselves, and they can't sell them at a good price. ”

Zhu Shunshui is talking about the situation in the coastal provinces, and his hometown has a thriving textile industry.

The farther inland you are, the weaker your industry becomes, and you can't find a few steam engines throughout the province. Those provinces are still stuck in the past, and even the smallholder economy has not been destroyed, and there is still a large number of family textiles.

Wu Yingji said: "The question now is not to save money, but how to spend it. More and more silver is pouring in from the coast, and prices are rolling up. More money should be allocated to the Ministry of Industry, and people should be recruited to work throughout the country to build more water conservancy and roads. Moreover, you can't use the money of the imperial court, you have to absorb the excess folk silver along the coast, and try your best to suppress the price and not rise too fast. ”

Fei Chun said: "In Tibet, the northeast and the southwest, many roads have been built to connect all the mountainous areas. In the future, whether it is sending troops to fight wars or transporting goods locally, there will be long-term benefits. ”

When Zhao Han went on an expedition to Mobei, he used a policy of raising interest rates, and used civilian silver for military spending, and a war cost the old nose money.

At that time, there were also ministers who felt that they were reckless, but now they think about it and start to keep up with the emperor's train of thought.

Isn't it just too much silver?

Who wouldn't spend money.

No one has mentioned conscription for a long time, and now there is money, and it is all used to recruit people to work.

Liu Ziren reminded: "Don't be too lavish, the expedition to Mobei, plus the recovery of Beihai, used tens of millions of taels of silver before and after." The court still owes money to the bank, and it hasn't been paid off yet. There was a surplus of silver along the coast, but the imperial court was still short of money. ”

Fei Chun said: "Your Majesty's policy is very obvious, that is, to turn the excess silver along the coast into water conservancy and roads in the inland provinces. His Majesty has said many times that as long as it is not for personal pleasure, it is not a bad thing to build a large number of buildings. ”

Yuan Yunlong suddenly said: "The income of the officials in the world, shouldn't it also rise?" Last time, someone mentioned in the song that although His Majesty did not agree, his tone had loosened. ”

The cabinet ministers deliberated repeatedly, came up with a plan to build water conservancy and roads throughout the country, and mentioned in passing the matter of raising the salaries of officials.

In fact, domestic infrastructure construction has always been carried out.

However, many mountain roads are carried out on a village-by-village basis, and villagers contribute free of charge to build their own roads in their villages. Then the government allocated some funds to recruit people to repair some of the roads in the villages. In many mountains, roads cannot be repaired, and even aqueducts cannot be excavated.

Now that the imperial court has allocated money to scatter money, the efficiency will definitely be improved, and it is planned to allocate 1.5 million taels of silver every year for the construction of official roads in the more critical mountainous areas.

In addition, another 1.5 million taels will be allocated annually for the construction of water conservancy and irrigation facilities, which is an additional appropriation and does not involve the regular annual allocation of the Ministry of Industry.

Zhao Hanyu pen Zhu criticized: Accurate.

Including raising the salaries of officials across the country, Zhao Han also approved it this time, and raised it by one level on the original basis.

Poor provinces are under even greater pressure to pay for their salaries, especially for teachers, who are paid for by local finances. This will have to make them withhold more taxes, otherwise they will all have to cry poor, after all, the steam age has just begun, and the development of the whole country is extremely uneven.

Not only is it unbalanced, but it is also very chaotic, and many contradictions emerge one after another.

"Your Majesty, the latest demographic is complete." A report was handed over by the Ministry of Households.

Zhao Han said: "Take it to me and take a look." ”

Many coastal provinces and overseas territories have dual household registration.

After the introduction of the new policy, it took several years to finally straighten it out, and another demographic survey was made.

The military and civilian prefectures of Pingnan in Burma, Tibet, Qinghai, Mongolia, Heilongjiang and other prefectures, as well as Quang Nam Province established by the reconquest of Vietnam, as well as the population of the Ryukyu Islands, and even the Siberian region, as long as they are registered by the government, even the indigenous people are all counted.

There are 176.92 million people over the age of 12 in the country.

Luzon, Palembang, Coconut City, Malacca and other overseas territories (excluding the Jin kings), counting the naturalized natives, totaled 913,958 people—most of them descendants of Chinese immigrants during the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and a large number of Nyonya (Chinese mestizo descendants) went to the Governor's Palace to register, claiming to be Chinese and seeking preferential treatment.

The population of the northern provinces has recovered to a certain extent.

Take Hebei as an example, it is no longer a wilderness, and it has been reclaimed into farmland one after another.

There are 10 counties directly under the jurisdiction of Beiping Prefecture, and the population has increased to more than 3 million, and there are more than 200,000 people in Beijing alone.

In this case, there is no need for the government to organize immigration, and it is enough for the population of the north to reproduce naturally.

Zhao Han waved his pen: "Order the Ministry of Rites to speed up the establishment of schools in Qinghai, Tibet, Mongolia, and Heilongjiang, and recruit more children of different races to study." ”

The Ryukyu Islands are the most trouble-free, and there are already 36 Han surnames there.

These Han people were thrown to the islands to multiply, and they served as town mayors and village heads. Although it is inevitable that they will become bigger, the speed of indoctrination of the natives is very fast, and the Ryukyu Islands have been thoroughly regarded as the mainland, belonging to the two counties of Ryukyu and Abbot in Taiwan Province, Fujian Province.

The Japanese Satsuma Domain was next to the Ryukyus, although it was beaten by the Datong Army, and the indemnity was greatly damaged. However, due to the convenience of trade, smuggling is the most rampant, its strength has developed extremely rapidly, and there are a large number of ronin who have come into contact with China's advanced ideology, culture, and technology.

The Satsuma Domain is brewing a ronin riot, and the poor ronins want to lead the peasants to fight the "local tyrants" and divide the land.

The ronin rebellion will definitely fail, and even if the Shimazu family is killed, it will attract the shogunate army to quell the rebellion. However, the subsequent impact is difficult to estimate, and it may force the shogunate to close off the country, or the failure of the lockdown will lead to a sharp decline in the prestige of the shogunate.

"Your Majesty, there is a Zhongyuzi sent an embassy to Beijing to ask for a seal, and it is ...... I sent a princess of Zhongyuzi over to present it to His Majesty. "Honglu Siqing came to report.

Zhao Han was very happy: "Kazakh took the initiative to ask for a seal? What are the details? ”

At this time, Xie Yuan was still on the island of Madagascar and did not bring back relevant news, but left an envoy to guide the Kazakhs.

The information of Honglu Temple came from the guide messenger: "Your Majesty, Zhongyuzi is divided. This mission was sent by the son of the former Khan of Zhongyuzi, asking His Majesty to canonize him as the king of the Kazakh Khanate. ”

Zhao Han smiled: "But he is a visionary, even Zhongyuzi is not unified, he wants to be the king of Kazakhstan." ”

For westward expansion, Zhao Han only planned to occupy the territory of the Gilligis people, that is, Kyrgyzstan in later generations, and conquering it would be equivalent to recovering the homeland of the Tang Dynasty. Further west it is difficult to manage, mainly because of the terrain, only Kyrgyzstan is good for defense and can be connected with the Kashgar region.

Of course, if there is spare strength, Tajikistan can also be taken, and it is a mountainous terrain that is conducive to defense.

(Carvin, only one more.) ）