I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 227 Expansion of Army Reserves

October has arrived in the dead of winter.

Not only the south of the Yangtze River, but also the north has begun to snow, and the weather is getting colder and colder.

No matter how unwilling Yongzheng was, he had to temporarily suspend his troops and cease the war.

Otherwise, let alone whether the northwest frontier army and the Shengjing Sauron soldiers can withstand it, at least the grain transporters will definitely not be able to withstand it.

Moreover, now that the Qing Dynasty has lost its water transportation, its food depends entirely on carriages and horses from Huguang, and it is still self-sufficient in the local area.

With this heavy snowfall, the loss and difficulty of food transportation will only increase.

Qinzhou, Funiu Mountain (this Funiu Mountain is not the other Funiu Mountain).

Liu Ruhan's life was also difficult. Heavy snow forced Yongzheng to leave, which also forced him to quickly find a place to stay.

Moreover, the food reserves are definitely not enough. This winter, many people may follow him and starve to death or freeze to death in the mountains.

"Father, everything is settled." Liu Ke, who had no time to shave his beard and had a stubble on his face, stepped forward with a knife in his hand and said.

He is the son of Liu Ruhan and the third generation leader of the original Bagua Sect.

This man even served as a state magistrate during the Qianlong Dynasty, but he was not enthusiastic about the position of leader.

But this time, his father personally took the lead in the rebellion. No matter what he thought in his heart, Liu Ke had to follow him in the rebellion.

"Ah."

Liu Ruhan nodded slightly and said, "With this snow this year, I don't know how many people will die..."

After saying that, he cursed in a deep voice: "Grandma, I'm waiting for these clean dogs. Sooner or later, I will lead my troops into the capital and seize the bird's seat."

Liu Ke remained silent, actually disagreeing in his heart.

After all, they were driven up the mountain by Qing Gou. Fortunately, Qing Gou was not familiar with the mountain terrain and it was snowing heavily.

Otherwise, they would not be able to hold on long ago.

……

Nanjing.

The palace, the imperial study.

Zhu Yijiong is convening the cabinet ministries and the Privy Council at the founding meeting to discuss the strategic planning and direction of the future Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, Zhu Chengxun of the Privy Council was talking eloquently: "Your Majesty, the economic ministers and the various departments of the Privy Council have made preliminary plans. The new army is currently expected to expand by [-] troops, totaling the establishment of two armies."

"Including the original Eighth Route Army of the New Army, the total number of New Army troops is 30. This is only a preliminary plan. In the next year or the year after, the New Army may continue to expand its troops..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ji, the Minister of Household Affairs, rushed to speak: "Your Majesty, think twice! Now that the cold winter has arrived, many places have been affected by heavy snow, and the central government is in urgent need of allocating funds for relief."

"In addition, the Propaganda Department has already issued the draft in the spring of next year. With such a large amount of expenses, if we continue to expand the army, the national reserves may be really difficult to support it."

This time, Chen Ji learned the lesson and knew to strike first.

Last time, these people were expanding their army and doing this and that, all asking for money.

He was the last one to speak. He couldn't refuse, so he had to bite the bullet. The treasury was so empty that even rats were unwilling to run away.

Now that the treasury finally has some money, it's not like it can't raise funds for the two armies.

But listening to the Privy Council's opinion, it is obvious that a large-scale military expansion will continue in the future.

No matter how much money and food the Ministry of Revenue has, it can't stop such a militaristic approach!
Zhu Chengxun said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Now our Ming Dynasty already controls half of the south of the Yangtze River. The original Eighth Route Army of the New Army is really stretched."

"If we do not expand our army, once the puppet Qing Dynasty attacks from the Huai River and the Yangtze River, and then joins forces with the Guangdong forest bandits to invade from southern Jiangxi, our Ming Dynasty will easily fall into siege, and we will lose sight of one thing and lose the other."

Chen Ji quickly asked: "But Privy Zhu, if we expand the army, where will the money and food for the [-] new troops come from?"

Zhu Chengxun said: "Since Chen Shangshu is the Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, he should find a way. He is just a privy envoy and has no right to interfere with money and food matters."

When Chen Ji heard this, he was instantly furious: "Think of a solution? How can we find a solution with this money and food?"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel in front of His Majesty, Wang Li intervened in time to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, I think that although Privy Zhu's words are a bit extreme, what he said is reasonable. Now that the Puppet Qing Dynasty has not been eliminated, although our Ming Dynasty has restored half of the south of the Yangtze River, this The discussion of military expansion is indeed urgent."

One sentence was extreme, and the other was imminent. It was speaking for the two of them, but it was also a deliberate warning.

This is in front of His Majesty, don’t forget your identity as a subject!

Zhu Chengxun and Chen Ji were certainly not fools, and they understood the meaning instantly.

This is the art of language.

Moreover, Wang Li did not just come out to smooth things over. He also guessed the emperor's attitude.

It goes without saying that there was no explicit opposition to the Privy Council's military expansion plan from the beginning.

If Chen Ji continues to argue like this, he will not only fail to win, but will also make His Majesty feel disgusted.

It has to be said that Wang Li, not to mention anything else, is at least very good at trying to figure out the Holy Will.

Because of this, Zhu Yijiong chose him as his first assistant. Even if Wu Sidao was allowed to join the cabinet in the future, he did not intend to replace Wang Li's position as first assistant.

He can only have one voice in this court!
Zhu Yijiong nodded slightly and made a formal decision: "Well, what the Privy Council said is reasonable. The expansion of the new army is a must-do."

After saying that, he raised his eyes and looked at Wang Li.

Wang Li immediately took the lead in expressing his position: "The cabinet will do its best to cooperate with the Privy Council and never cause our officers and men of the Ming Dynasty's New Army to lack pay and food." Chen Ji hesitated to speak, but opened his mouth, but still did not say a word, and followed Together they surrendered.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Zhu Chengxun shouted, and then continued: "I still have something to report."

"speak."

When Zhu Chengxun spoke eloquently, Zhu Yijiong was immediately shocked.

The ambitions of the Privy Council are not small!
Not only does the new army want to expand, but the preparation army also plans to expand.

This army was combined with the old Xiang soldiers when the Ming army was downsized and reorganized. It belongs to the local second-line army.

No, according to the Privy Council's plan, this army preparation is not so much an expansion as a direct cancellation.

Not even the second-line troops, the original responsibilities will be taken over by the new army in the future, and the military preparation will be completely similar to the guard troops of the former Ming Dynasty, but different.

According to the future plan of the Privy Council, all young and middle-aged people in the country will be potential soldiers for the army.

Of course, this is not realistic. Currently, it is only limited to the children of farmers. That is to say, all young farmers will be converted into farmers and soldiers.

But this is only a part-time job. The new army will not be paid military salaries, and military training will only be conducted during slack periods. The only difference is that the new army will completely follow the training model of the new army.

But the training intensity will be reduced and the focus will be on discipline training.

All farmers who participate in the training can receive corresponding tax exemptions, and local finance must also take care of the food during the training.

According to statistics from the Privy Council, with the current financial expenditure of the Ming Dynasty on new armies, it is more than enough to train one million new troops in the five provinces.

In the subsequent expansion of the new army, priority will also be given to the newly prepared army.

This greatly saves the training cost of the new army and improves the efficiency of army formation. It only needs a simple training to quickly form an army.

It is equivalent to Ming Dynasty gaining millions of troops since then.

After hearing this, Zhu Yijiong's eyes suddenly lit up.

Good guy, isn’t this the reserve force?

He had wanted to do this for a long time, but he had been suffering from the tight situation on the front line, and the money and food from the rear had to be supplied to the front line, so he could not implement it.

Now that the finances are barely sufficient, we can really do something about it.

Not only does it save money, but once the army is dismantled, it can also save a large amount of military salary and finance every year.

Zhu Yijiong pondered for a moment and said: "Well, this discussion of the Privy Council... what do you think?"

This move was almost written on his face, and he even asked them if they had any objections.

If you have an opinion, you have to hold it in!
Besides, the Privy Council's army preparation plan essentially not only did not damage the national treasury by half a penny, it even eliminated the original financial expenditure for army preparation.

It was only drawn from the local treasury, but not much, just to practice managing food in my free time.

You don't even have to spend money to recruit soldiers and pay them, which is cheaper than the Green Camp trained by the Qing army.

It is nothing more than giving preferential tax exemptions, and the specific amount of tax exemptions still needs to be discussed. In short, it is impossible for the court to lose money.

This is equivalent to using the same or even less money to train a large number of troops, and the people will not resist.

Of course Wang Li and others would not object to such a cost-effective deal.

Wang Li took the lead and said, "I think this method is feasible! The Privy Council has really put their heart and soul into it."

"The minister waits for the second opinion!"

All the ministers bowed their hands.

With everything going so smoothly, Zhu Yijiong suddenly smiled with satisfaction and said: "In that case, the matter has been settled. The specific time for training and the details of the training will be discussed in conjunction with the expansion of the new army. The Privy Council will return and submit a memorial."

Zhu Chengxun quickly handed over his hands: "I obey the order."

Zhu Yijiong said: "The cabinet will also submit a memorial regarding the budget for the expansion of the new army and the expansion of the reserve army!"

"The minister obeys the order."

Wang Li, Liang Wenxuan and others handed over.

Zhu Yijiong added: "Also, since we want to promote it nationwide, this military preparation number is not very suitable."

"Well... let's call it reserve instead! How about that?"

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Zhu Chengxun only raised his eyebrows, then raised his hands and responded.

Although the name chosen by the intuitive emperor is a bit uneducated, it is not harmful.

Moreover, the reserve force also has the advantage of being straightforward. It can at least let the local officials understand what it is for.

It's never too perfunctory.

　No recommendation, I’m cold (ω)
　　


(End of this chapter)