In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 392 Colonial Thoughts
  The military strength of Dusi in Fujian Dusi, Guangdong Dusi, Zhejiang Dusi, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, Guizhou and other provinces is controlled between [-] and [-].

Today's Guizhou and Guangxi are not as big as they were in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there are no enemies nearby, including coastal areas such as Guangdong and Fujian. Their military strength is limited to about [-].

Because Zhejiang is where the capital is located, it has [-] cavalry and a large number of naval forces around it. Without a navy, it is completely impossible for Mongolia to threaten Zhejiang.

The rest of the heavy troops are gathered in six regions: Ningxia, Shandong, Liaodong, Henan, Jiangnan (including the original Lianghuai), and Shaanxi.

A large number of soldiers and horses from Sichuan also arrived in Shaanxi.

Zhao and Rui did not mention the military strength of these six regions at the meeting, and neither did the cabinet ministers.

Half of the Song Dynasty navy is in these six places. Of the [-] infantry and cavalry, [-] are gathered in these six areas. There are [-] in Ningxia alone, another [-] in Henan, [-] in Shandong, [-] in Shaanxi, and [-] in Jiangnan. [-], and [-] in Liaodong. In addition to these infantry and cavalry, there are hundreds of thousands of naval troops in various places. Therefore, facing the Mongolian front line and adjacent areas, the Song Dynasty gathered a million troops.

Seventy percent of Zhao Yurui's [-] million troops are facing Mongolia.

His current problem is that he has relatively few cavalry because there are not enough war horses.

After negotiating peace with Mongolia last year, he obtained the horse-producing land of Ningxia. The imperial court had occupied this area during the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Zhenzong period, the country raised [-] horses. After losing this place, the two Song dynasties also lost the horse-raising land.

During the Xixia Kingdom, the Ningxia region had an average of [-] war horses per year. Before the end of the Xixia Kingdom, it still produced [-] high-quality war horses annually. At that time, it was still fighting Mongolia every year and losing part of its land and population. Therefore, it is completely fine for Xixia to produce [-] high-quality war horses annually.

At its peak, the Jin Kingdom had [-] war horses annually. It also lost important horse-producing areas due to Mongolian attacks. Now a small number of them have fallen into the hands of the Song Army in Liaodong. The Song Army in Liaodong is building cities. On the one hand, he is also raising horses.

Including Sichuan and Jeju, the Song Army's current annual war horses will exceed [-] in two years, and the annual output of high-quality war horses will exceed [-], or even [-].

Starting next year, the war horses of the Song Dynasty will continue to come out.

Zhao and Rui negotiated peace with Mongolia for five years, firstly waiting for war horses, and secondly waiting for flintlock rifles.

"As the country's population increases, the draw ratio will be reduced. In the future, it may be one draw for every [-], or one draw for [-]. As long as the population of our Song Dynasty continues to grow, the pressure on the people will become less and less." Zhao Yurui said. Shi said: "Although we have negotiated peace with Mongolia now, we still have to decide the outcome on the battlefield in the future. If we don't fight Mongolia, the Mongols will come and fight us."

"So these more than one million soldiers and horses must be raised, and the country's population must find ways to increase. After all, in addition to fighting, we also immigrate everywhere and seize territory, which all require the support of the population."

Zhao and Rui began to seize Jeju Island and establish Da Yuan Province. They also immigrated to Hainan and occupied Liaodong. The ministers did not understand.

Because these places are remote areas in their eyes, but now eleven years have passed, everyone has seen the benefits.

Not to mention Jeju Island, it was one of the sources of war horses in the early Song Dynasty. It is still the construction base of the Song Dynasty. It is rich in seafood and fruits, which can increase the income of the imperial court. It is also the largest copper coin casting place for the imperial court.

There are craftsmen households on Jeju Island from the Song Dynasty, Goryeo, and even Japan. Although some of them moved to Lin'an, there are still tens of thousands of them. It is currently the main production place for military armor and the largest copper coin casting place in the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Yurui purchased Goryeo wood and Japanese copper here, and also owned one of the latest and largest shipbuilding companies in the country.

It can be said to be the rear area of ​​the Song Dynasty.

Another senior official has been immigrating in recent years, and the population has exceeded [-]. A large number of grain fields are cultivated locally. In the past few years, the court subsidized money. Starting from three years ago, local grain can be transported to Fujian. Support Fujian.

Because Fujian has many mountains, it has always been relatively short of food. Now Dajuan has more than enough food to support Fujian, and Dajuan grows large areas of sugar cane. It is currently the largest sugar producing area in the Song Dynasty, and it is close to Nanyang and other places. These maritime trades earned the Song Dynasty an unknown amount of money every year.

Hainan Province invested relatively late. At present, the court is still losing money. The number of immigrants is less than [-]. There will be no benefits in the short term, but everyone knows that there will definitely be benefits in the future, otherwise the emperor would not spend so much money on Hainan.

In fact, Zhao Yurui's philosophy of running Hainan was different from that of the later Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The development of Hainan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties also had to lose money. Zhao Yurui wanted to use Hainan as a bridgehead, mainly to garrison troops and prepare supplies and personnel, and then start to attack Southeast Asia to plunder and colonize.

After talking about population, we have to talk about economy.

In terms of population, Zhao Yurui is a qualified emperor. The main reason is that he guarded the country well and ensured that no large-scale wars or major disasters occurred in the Song Dynasty after he ascended the throne. People could live and work in peace and contentment without the oppression of excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. The population would naturally increase. increase.

Of course, Zhao Yurui's seemingly prosperous Song Dynasty actually had many problems.

For example, in the early days, in order to find out the true number of grain fields, he raided the landowners and levied heavy taxes. There was sporadic resistance in various places, and some landowners even dared to gather their servants and tenants to rebel. Such small-scale unrest occurred in all major dynasties. But they were all put down immediately by Zhao Yurui.

He had made preparations for several years before checking the grain fields and landowners. He set up capitals in various places, trained soldiers and horses, and then used the army to inspect them. Those who refused to obey were directly confiscated and executed.

At that time, it still offended the interests of a large number of landlords, including businessmen and scholars, because it was this group of people who owned a large amount of grain fields.

Therefore, the commercial economy of the Song Dynasty suffered a severe blow a few years before Zhao Yurui ascended the throne.

But fortunately, Zhao Yurui used the Ponzi scheme of later generations to defraud a large amount of money from merchants and landlords across the Song Dynasty, so that his court could run.

After a series of restructuring and encouraging maritime trade, the economy of the Song Dynasty slowly recovered.

Although the imperial court is rich now, it also spends money in many places, spending huge amounts every year.

"The imperial court had a relatively large surplus in the past few years. In recent years, there have been too many places to spend money." At this time, Zhao Yurui said with some embarrassment.

In the second year of Baoqing, Zhao Yurui reorganized the system for the first time and determined the number of officials (including military attachés) in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the establishment was about [-]. Of course, there must be more than this number of civil and military officials at that time. At that time, there were all civil servants in the country. Five to six hundred thousand.

Zhao Yurui continued to be laid off in the next few years. Some were transferred to high-level officials and other places, some were directly sent home, and some were directly confiscated and beheaded in the name of corrupt officials.

While the imperial court was cutting staff, it was also able to confiscate property.

The imperial court at that time spent five years cutting off [-] civil servants. With fewer staff, the imperial court was getting richer and richer.

Later, personnel and expenses were gradually controlled.

The personnel began to rise again.

There was no way. The purpose of cutting down the staff in the early stage was still to crack down on the landlord class and corrupt officials. Someone still had to make up for it later. In addition, Zhao Yurui successively added the Sixth Department to the Eleventh Division, as well as the Jinyiwei, and also added craftsmen, doctors, and even now The number of workers in the imperial companies was recruited, etc., and the number of people supported by the imperial government's finances began to gradually increase again.

In the third year of Baoqing, there were more than [-] civil and military officials in the country, and their annual salary was [-] million guan. The national army was less than [-], and their annual expenditure was about [-] million guan.

At that time, there were only [-] craftsmen in the country, and the annual expenditure was less than [-] million yuan.

The other seven, seven or eight, combined, still lost [-] million yuan that year, which was also a loss.

Later, after studying history for a long time, Zhao Yurui issued a small amount of Huizi, thus maintaining the operation of the court.

Three years after Baoqing, the court was getting better and better, business and maritime trade were getting better and better, staff were reduced, income increased, coupled with successive crackdowns on landlords and two high-interest scams, Zhao Yurui's Song Dynasty was in In the seventh year of Baoqing's reign, the imperial court's deposits exceeded [-] million yuan.

But seven years after Baoqing, the situation declined again.

Because Zhao and Rui took a big step, developing Hainan and Liaodong, fighting everywhere, and immigrating everywhere. Fortunately, in the eighth year of Baoqing's reign, another campaign was made, mainly by attacking the Jin Kingdom and confiscating hundreds of millions of properties and tens of millions of acres of land.

But in the eighth year of Baoqing and the first year of Yuanzhen, money was still spent in the war in Xixia.

After the Song army obtained half of the Xixia area, they could not search everywhere as they did when they attacked and destroyed the Jin Kingdom. The main reason was that there were not many Mongolians in the area, most of them were party members and other ethnic groups, and there were not many fields in the area, so they had to rely on them to support them. horse.

Therefore, you will lose money by attacking Xixia, and you will make money by attacking Jin Dynasty.

After entering Yuanzhen, they vigorously immigrated and developed Liaodong, and a steady stream of money and food went out.

Zhao Yurui also had to regulate the Yellow River, which would cost money.

At this time, Zhao Yurui asked Yang Changru, the Minister of Household Affairs, to tell him about last year's expenses and income.

"The statistics at the end of last year in the Song Dynasty showed that the total amount of money, grain, and goods for the whole year was [-] million guan."

The ministers were not shocked, because they all knew why.

Baoqing's income in seven years was only [-] million yuan, and Baoqing's eight years and seven years were about the same.

In the seventh year of Baoqing, the national grain tax was more than [-] million shi, which was already beyond the peak period of the Ming Dynasty, and it did not occupy the Central Plains at that time.

After discounting various other taxes and goods, plus the price of grain, the final calculation is [-] million yuan.

The high income in the first year of Yuanzhen was mainly due to plundering the wealth of the Jin Kingdom and the wealth of Xixia.

After these two places were captured, Zhao and Rui's Song Dynasty were not polite. They confiscated all the wealth that could be seized, and the land could be scraped three feet away.

Therefore, last year was the highest year in Song Dynasty’s revenue history.

Zhao Yurui saw that the ministers didn't seem surprised. They probably didn't take it seriously and didn't understand the point.

So he said: "Compared the seventh and eighth years of Baoqing, what differences did you find? Why did it increase so much?"

The ministers looked at each other in confusion, as if they didn't understand what the emperor meant. Some of them were probably thinking that they had stolen it.
  We, a country of great etiquette in the Song Dynasty, can’t we do this all the time? Of course, some people think about it but dare not say it.

After a while, Qin Zhuo said loudly: "Your Majesty, I believe that fighting is not necessarily a matter of spending money to compensate."

"In the past few years, we have waged war against Jin and Mongolia. Not only have we regained the territory of the Song Dynasty, but we have also gained countless wealth."

"I believe that we should continue to fight and keep fighting to gain a lot of territory for the Song Dynasty and plunder more wealth. As human ministers, we also hope that the year-end bonuses can be larger. Everyone agrees, right?"

"Hahaha." Some of the ministers burst into laughter.

Because the emperor actually paid out bonuses at the end of last year.

Zhao Yurui did not pay any bonuses in the past few years. They were given bonuses when they regained Shandong and were distributed throughout the country. However, the lowest official only had one or two bonuses, and the ministers and cabinet ministers only had dozens of bonuses. Meaning, it was mainly to let the whole country Feel the joy of the Song Dynasty taking back its homeland.

However, heavy rewards were given for the recovery of the Central Plains the year before last and the capture of Xixia last year.

The cabinet ministers sitting here today were each given an extra two months' salary, which was a huge sum for the ministers.

Qin Zhuo's words were obviously a deliberate reminder to them that if we fight and plunder, you will also benefit.

When the ministers heard this, they all lowered their heads thoughtfully.

Zhao Yurui was the most aggressive emperor among the emperors of the Song Dynasty. He fought everywhere, including Goryeo the year before last.

In the past, wars in the eyes of courtiers were a waste of troops and troops, a waste of food and money, and a waste of national power.

But in Zhao Yurui's hands, every battle has its benefits.

Even if they helped Koryo conquer Mongolia, the Koryo people paid a considerable price. Afterwards, today's cabinet members all received top-grade Korean ginseng as tribute from Koryo, and some ministers may not have finished eating it yet.

Thinking about it this way, war doesn't seem to be necessarily a bad thing?

Zhao Yurui waited for Qin Zhuo to finish speaking, and then said seriously: "War is never a bad thing that consumes national power. Of course, you have to admit it if you lose."

"As long as you win, war is a great thing."

When he said this, Zhao Yurui was actually thinking that he didn't like war.

If possible, he would rather have a peaceful world. After all, he was just an ordinary citizen in his previous life, and war would be too cruel to common people.

But now they are in a different position and the environment is different. Zhao and Rui have no choice and no retreat. Moreover, he must lay a good foundation for the subsequent overseas colonization and turn the conservative and weak Song Dynasty into a strong Song Dynasty that actively expands externally.

With so many ministers present, not all of them may agree with Zhao and Rui's ideas, but the current war in the Song Dynasty has brought benefits, and none of them can refute it.

After finishing speaking, Zhao and Rui motioned for them to continue.

"There is one thing I want to explain to you."

So Yang Changru said again, it turns out that in the [-]th year of Baoqing, grain prices across the country generally dropped to a stone's throw, which was considered a period of low prices.

But in the past few years, people's lives have become more prosperous, and food prices have actually risen again. This year they have risen to one stone more than usual.

Although it is cheaper than when Zhao and Rui ascended the throne, food prices have still risen again, so last year's discount of [-] million yuan has to be deducted.

Emperor Li was a little puzzled: "Obviously the people basically have land, why are food prices still rising?"

"Because of immigration." Zhao Yurui explained: "There are also wine making and so on."

In the past few years, the imperial court has been immigrating to Hainan, Dayuan, and Liaodong, including now to Shaanxi.

When Shaanxi was invaded by the Mongols, countless people were killed and many fled to the Central Plains. Now the imperial court is moving back.

In the past, there was no land and no grain, and everything was supplied by the court, which caused grain prices to rise in some areas.

(End of this chapter)