"Expand! I'm going to set up the Fifth Division! Li Xiao walked into Sun Chengzong's study and said a sentence urgently.

Sun Chengzong buried his head in the official document and didn't even lift his head. Li Xiao had no choice, so he sat on the chair, and the maid immediately brought a cup of tea. The boss of the Sun family took it over in person and placed it on the desk next to Li Xiao.

After writing the last word, Sun Chengzong put down the brush. I took off my reading glasses and kneaded the bridge of my nose, which was a little sore.

"It's not impossible to expand the army, but this year's budget for the military department is 3.5 million silver dollars. You approved Li Xiu to expand the Marine Corps Division, and together with the Navy's warship budget for this year, it is a total of 1.9 million silver dollars.

There are also various main divisions to increase equipment, plus the northwest to build an arsenal. You approved the arsenal of the Navy in Qinhuangdao again, and there are ......! ”

"Old Sun......!"

"Okay, the old man won't say much. To tell you the real number, so far this year, a total of 3.9 million silver dollars have been spent on military spending. It was only September, and the budget had exceeded 400,000 taels of silver. Brother Xiao, it's only September, and there are still three months to go. How much this year's military spending will exceed the budget, only God knows.

You are now going to form the Fifth Division, according to the precedent you have set. The main division has a total strength of 33,900 men, and another garrison division is responsible for logistics and miscellaneous assistance. In other words, there will be more than 43,000 personnel in the whole army.

There are more than 43,000 people, and money is needed for food, clothing, food, barracks, and training. And that's not counting the money for the equipment, you need at least thirty-five thousand rifles, and mortars, rocket launchers, and what howitzer you just crumbled. A howitzer shell costs eighty silver dollars, and you are going to get twenty-four guns for a division. According to 100 rounds per gun, don't you count how much a howitzer is, how many silver dollars do you calculate for a shell?

Take 10,000 steps back, and you'll get the money now. The Northwest Arsenal is still on the drawings, and the Qinhuangdao Naval Arsenal is being formed. The Jinzhou Arsenal and the Changxing Island Arsenal produce more than 1,000 rifles a month. With this output, it is difficult to equip the existing main divisions and cope with the consumption of the northwest. Now as soon as your upper lip touches your lower lip, tell the old man to form the fifth division. You're not going to let them go into battle empty-handed, are you?

To tell you the truth, Yuan Chonghuan has already asked for a new rifle eight times. He hasn't allocated it there until now, why? Because the output is so large, it is necessary to supply the northwest and the marines to a limited extent, and Yuan Chonghuan can only have about 100 branches a month. Do you know that half of Yuan Chonghuan's division is still using old-fashioned rifles.

You are now the commander in charge of thousands of troops, not the thugs who led hundreds of men on Phi Island. What do you say? Think about it first! Sun Chengzong stood up, and Boss Sun hurriedly came over to help, but was pushed away by his father.

Sun Chengzong pouted his beard and walked to Li Xiao angrily: "Because the land is spread into the mu, the officials and gentry are all on an errand and pay for the grain." Jiangnan is in a lot of trouble, that's our Daming's money bag. If you become that virtuous, the tax is only at the level of the Wanli period.

This year, the Yellow River flooded, and Henan and Shandong were affected. There was a drought in Shaanxi and an earthquake in Shanxi. There are famines everywhere, the imperial court has to provide disaster relief, and it has to build railways, and it has to bear more and more of your military expenses.

And you? The whole country has promoted the integration of officials and gentry to pay grain and pay for errands, and the officials and gentry have paid for food. But what about the warlords? Ao Canghai sold smuggled salt in the northeast and bought grain and made wine for sale. Can he pay a copper brother's tax?

Yuan Chonghuan was in Fujian, dealing with maritime merchants all day long. Ships are constantly being dispatched to import goods around the city. How much does the market lose money? Have you counted?

Zu Dashou was digging coal in Shaanxi, and Cao Wenzhao was on the front line, and he also knew that he bought wool, cattle and sheep on the grassland and trafficked them to the capital to make a fortune.

The old man wants to ask you, are these people you found leading soldiers or doing business? Are you a group of bandits, merchants, or the regular main force of the Ming Empire?

Oh! By the way, there is also Man Gui. Full......! ”

Li Xiao has two big heads, and Sun Chengzong's words are echoed in his ears. Over the years, the main force has indeed been too indulgent. Doing business in the armed forces is absolutely a taboo that corrupts combat effectiveness. And once the army has mastered the economy, then the army is not an army, but a warlord.

In the past two years, he knew that the main division had secretly drummed up some business, and he always thought that it was not easy for them to be born and die over the years, and it didn't matter if they made some money, as long as it was easy to use in the war.

I never expected that the main division had fallen so deep.

"Thankfully! Now the ministries have not been in business for a long time, and if they are dealt with with with a heavy hand, it will still have some effect. An army is an army, and it is used for war. It's not their turn to do business, so naturally there are businessmen to do it. Relying on non-payment of taxes, wanton suppression of the market and disruption of the market. This has endangered the foundation of our Ming industry and commerce, and what you need to do now is not to expand the army, but to rectify military discipline. ”

"Got it! This matter is my responsibility, and I will go to the divisions for a walk today. In any case, they had to chop off their outstretched paws. Just now, I was also carried away by the Huzi incident, and I wanted to teach the Mongols some lessons. ”

"How's Huzi?"

"His life is saved, and how he recovers in the future depends on himself."

"If you need any medicine, you can get it directly from Ouchi Pharmacy. In there, there are many precious medicinal herbs. Even if you don't use it, you have to be stolen by those eunuchs. What the old man said just now has touched on the foundation of my Ming industry. Only you can do this, and if others take care of those arrogant soldiers, they may be shot down.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing your parents! ”

"Got it, I'll get things done."

"The affairs of the northwest, according to the old man, still rely on Geritu. Give Geritu more equipment, they are all Mongols, and the cavalry is their advantage, not ours. It's just that there is no suitable person to do this thing, and Zhang Huangyan is suitable. But he has been busy coordinating the affairs of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Railways, and the Ministry of Water Resources recently, and he really can't get out of his way.

Ay......! Now, in fact, what we lack the most is available and suitable people. Sun Chengzong sighed helplessly, there are so many people in the world who have read books. It will take at least a few years for the students who are trained now to enter the profession. And you can't let a child who has just graduated from elementary school be an official.

Could it be that they will be forced to re-use the Donglin Party? There must not be another change at the noon gate, which would hurt the foundation of the country.

"I've got a choice."

"Who?"

"Mao Wenlong."