national surname chiming

Chapter 40

In all fairness, although Zhu Dadian's words were not straight, they were not completely unreasonable.

It's a pity that Chongzhen's temper is typically to create a set of principles of governing the country behind closed doors, and then declare that "principles are above all else, and it is not allowed to seek truth from facts based on actual conditions"——

As a last resort, there must be a minister who is willing to take the blame for "breaking the principle" and beheaded the blood sacrifice afterwards.In this way, the emperor has always adhered to the principle, and some treacherous and sycophant deceived and acted accordingly.

Moreover, the rank of this minister can't be low. If you don't borrow the head of a cabinet veteran, you still want to count on the "always correct" His Majesty Chongzhen to be accommodating?You are dreaming.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhu Dadian's words, Chongzhen immediately flew into a rage.

"Presumptuous! Zhu Dadian! The Ministry of Households formulates a strategy, and of course saving money is the first priority! Now, in order to train troops to suppress thieves and drive out slaves, nearly 800 million taels of training salary has been added. If the amount Shen Qing just said can be realized, save it There is less than half of the training salary!
Don't tell me that in your eyes, the life of those Cao Ding is their life, and those people in the world who are overwhelmed by salaries are not their lives!There are too many people, so we should find another way to find a way out, instead of letting redundant people lie on the court to suck blood! "

To be honest, Chongzhen still doesn't feel that there was anything wrong with him abolishing post stations or strict military discipline.

We cannot deny the reduction of redundant staff just because the people who eat finances have downsized and Li Zicheng has left.Nor can we deny the enforcement of military discipline just because Zhang Xianzhong, who was beaten by the army, turned to the bandits with a grudge.

Zhu Dadian was in a moment of impatience just now, but now hearing what the emperor said, he felt bitter in his mouth, knowing that he had said something wrong.He asked himself that it was really not for the family's money, but for the hundreds of thousands of people who depended on finances to support them.

His mind was running fast, and he finally realized that he had to give up a little at this moment—if the emperor killed him, he could prevent the water transport from changing to the sea, and he would be able to leave his name in history, and be recognized by the history books as a righteous minister.

The point is that if Chongzhen killed him now, he would definitely continue to forcibly push the water transportation to change to the sea.

He quickly knelt down and kowtowed to apologize: "I made a slip of the tongue for a while, please forgive me, but what I said is for the sake of the country, and your majesty insists on forcing water transportation to change to sea, at least Shen Tingyang should come up with a strategy to accommodate redundant water people!
If he can't take it out, it will be killing and burying, trapping His Majesty in an inhumane way!Your Majesty insists on severely punishing the ministers, and the ministers have nothing to say, as long as your Majesty also severely punishes these thieves who have trapped the emperor, the ministers will die without regret! "

Zhu Dadian has been tied to the interests of water transportation all his life, and now he is also passionate, thinking that as long as he punishes Shen Tingyang, a national traitor who broke the law of his ancestors, he will do it in exchange for his life.

Anyway, I'm already 60 years old, and I won't be able to live for long, and the other party is just forty, so it wouldn't hurt to change him!It's best that after both of them are dead, the benefits of the family and the entire interest group of the disciples and staff around them can continue, and the old laws of the country can be stabilized, so that's no big deal!
The source of income of several million taels of silver every year is what can make people so crazy that they will risk their lives.

Chongzhen couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words, he didn't expect Zhu Dadian to suddenly become so sincere and make such a big concession, and he used retreat as an advance to the point that he was not afraid of death, he seemed really a loyal minister.

Chongzhen also inevitably wavered, feeling that it is really impossible to kill or bury, even if reforms are to be implemented, more preparations must be made.

He was silent for a long time, then turned to Shen Tingyang:
"Shen Qing, you have heard what Zhu Dadian said. It is indeed not unreasonable. Even if some things are right, you must think carefully before doing them. If you insist on changing the water transportation to the sea, how many people in the water will be unemployed and how to arrange them? You Have you ever thought about it?"

Shen Tingyang had been watching Zhu Dadian and Chongzhen's performance just now, and seeing that the problem was gradually approaching the direction that his son had practiced with him before, he was also nervous and looking forward to it.

Fortunately, he was compassionate and his son was thoughtful, so he had prepared for this question in advance!
Shen Tingyang immediately cheered up: "Your Majesty, I have calculated how many people's livelihoods will be affected by the change of water transportation to the sea. Today, the total cost of the imperial court's water transportation is more than one tael or five yuan per stone, and less than two taels. According to the price of 400 million stone Calculated in terms of quantity, after the sea transportation is completely changed, three to four million taels can be saved, which is equivalent to half of the training salary.

Today, there are about hundreds of thousands of civilian husbands who rely on water transport across the country.There are seven battalions of guards patrolling and guarding, each with 500 soldiers, and a total of 2000 soldiers are responsible for patrolling the canal, but in fact, as far as I know, most of them are empty-handed. Some patrolling battalions are [-] No one is here!

In addition to civilian husbands and patrol soldiers, there are also transport guards, involving more than [-] guards in Yanhe County, with a total of more than [-] troops, but in fact, most of them have empty pay.

After the water transport was changed to the sea, I roughly estimated that since [-]% of the cost can be saved, and the cost of money and food for each person is equal, and a rough average estimate, about [-]% of the redundant staff will be squeezed out.They are mainly concentrated in Linqing, Shandong, and Huai'an, South Zhili.

The total number is about 1000 patrol soldiers, 6 guard troops, and more than 50 civilian husbands.Among this group of people, the patrol soldiers and the troops transported by the guards are fully supported by the imperial government all the year round. The 60 civilian husbands are used by the court in the busy season to make a living and subsidize their households in the off-season.Therefore, these 400 people can only earn a living on three or four million taels of silver. "

Shen Tingyang clearly analyzed the money he could save and the number of people to be resettled in one breath.Although no specific solution has been mentioned yet, at least the problem is well researched.

Based on prices at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if 60 people were full-time off-duty to serve water transportation, it would certainly not be enough for three or four million taels.

That is equivalent to only five denarii a month for each person.These people are still strong laborers, and they have to take care of weak women and children. Five qian silver is not enough for the whole family to eat.

In addition, in Shen Tingyang's remarks, the geographical scope of the problem to be solved is also very clearly limited-mainly Linqing and Huai'an, and other places will not be affected.

Chongzhen didn't understand the reason at first, so he asked again, and Shen Tingyang analyzed it in depth, and made it very clear: Tongzhou and Yangzhou, the other two major gathering places of Caomin, can be easily digested.

As the last place to receive grain, Tongzhou had the least impact.Even if the dock loading and unloading facilities are upgraded and production efficiency is improved, the extra people can still be moved to Tianjin Wei, and the relocation distance is not far and the cost is not high.

After the sea change, the labor force needed in Tianjin has increased, and it just so happens that people from Tongzhou have to make up for the gap.

The situation in Yangzhou is a little more complicated than that in Tongzhou, but it can also be resolved. The change of water transportation to the sea in the Jiangnan area will also create a new labor gap, and the arrangements are clear.

After clarifying these points, Chongzhen's mood settled down: Shen Aiqing is still very cautious in thinking about things!As for the long-term consequences that I may have caused, this is not very clear, and at least half of it has been resolved!
Seeing that the emperor was happy, Shen Tingyang continued to analyze while the iron was hot: "Your Majesty, what's more, the 60 people in Linqing and Huai'an are not to be solved at once. Now the fleet of ministers is insufficient, and other maritime merchants can be used by the court. Time scheduling is also required.

The change of water transportation to sea will only involve [-]% of the total transportation capacity this year, and the remaining [-]% will still go by canal.After that, if all goes well, it can increase by [-]% every year, so it will take five years to complete this reform step by step.

The silver that can be saved for the court in these five years increases by 80 taels per year, and it will reach 400 million taels after five years.The redundant staff that needs to be arranged is only 60 to [-] people per year, and all [-] people will be squeezed out after five years.

After careful calculation, it is enough to arrange more than 5 laborers for the surrounding areas of Linqing and Huai'an each year.If it is inconvenient to find a way out locally, some people can also emigrate. "

Shen Tingyang's account was very detailed, and Chongzhen was almost willing to hear this.

Moreover, when Shen Tingyang made the plan, Shen Shuren obviously didn't tell him the foresight of history, so Shen Tingyang calculated according to the progress of "completely completing the reform in five years". He didn't know that Chongzhen would die in less than four years.

But in any case, even if the reform cannot be completely completed, it is a good thing to save 80 to 300 million taels each year in the next four years.

Saving money can train more soldiers and reduce the burden on more people. This is something that the emperor has to do even if he is dead.

The more Chongzhen thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help asking the bottom line to think about some details: "Shen Qing, what else? Tell me quickly, how to arrange the [-] strong laborers in Linqing and Huai'an each year, have you thought about it specifically? "

Shen Tingyang glanced at his son who was a clerk next to him, and said confidently: "The minister has also imagined some methods. First of all, the canal patrol soldiers can be directly converted into local bandit suppressing soldiers. Now Yang Ge is in the Central Plains The provinces are short of troops to fight. After these people are trained and controlled, they can fight.

The army transported by the guard can be transferred to the south and Tianjin to be responsible for the port construction. Although it also costs money, after the money is spent, it can actually leave behind better docks and machinery. Nothing left.

The last ordinary seasonal farmers can move most of them away, and the remaining small number of people can also solve part of the problem by farming the rented land vacated by the relocated people.They are helping to subsidize their families during the slack season. As long as there are fewer people and more fields, they can grow a few acres on the spot.

The part that has been relocated is also the part with the largest number of people. There should be no more than 4 or 7 people per prefecture per year.In recent years, I have worked with Quanzi and some enlightened gentry in the south of the Yangtze River to discuss and deal with the famine. I have come up with some methods to make the existing fields and mulberry gardens more intensive, absorb more labor, and increase the total output. It should be able to absorb [-] per year. million people. "

Then, Shen Tingyang took out some drawings prepared in advance, and explained to Chongzhen the method of "building mulberry fish ponds in prefectures and counties where the sericulture industry is developed".

In places where only mulberry and silkworms can be grown, a little more excavation work for land preparation, especially the use of natural resources in areas with more swamps and wetlands, piling up high and digging deep can increase the production of the field and produce a crop of fish .Even without feed, one mu of fish ponds can naturally produce tens to hundreds of catties of fish a year.

Historically, mulberry fishponds appeared in the late Qing Dynasty and modern times, not in Suzhou, but in Guangdong.However, Shen Shuren has now opened some technical hooks in advance to make the fields per unit area more productive and absorb more labor. It is no problem to start in Suzhou first.

(End of this chapter)