The sun never sets in America

Chapter 85 Finance

squeak……

A carriage bearing the badge of the Ministry of Finance stopped in front of the Government Office.

The so-called badge is a symbol created by the Han Dynasty to distinguish various departments.

For example, the emblem of the Ministry of Finance is a golden pig, which looks very rustic, but in the eyes of the people who designed it at the time, the Ministry of Finance must naturally become fatter and fatter like a pig, so that it can become richer and richer.

Of course, behind this, there is a special metaphor that has not been said, that is, once the pig becomes fat, it will be killed! ! !
In other words, the Ministry of Finance looks very shiny on the surface and stores the country's tax revenue. However, except for the Ministry of Finance's own funds, other money does not belong to it... This is also a kind of sadness in a sense. .

The badge of the police department is a majestic gun-toting sergeant wearing a cowboy hat and a musket on his waist.

The Sheriff's eyes were firm and looking forward, which was also a deterrent to bad guys and potential criminals.

The one from the Ministry of Culture is a dove of peace wearing glasses, which seems to symbolize peace. In fact, you can see from the glasses that it is a dove of peace wearing wisdom, and wisdom is also a kind of power, and it is the greatest power of mankind...

As for what Han will do with this power, that is unknown! !

The Ministry of Health is an image of Hua Tuo, which directly gives people the feeling of curing diseases and rescuing people, saving lives and helping the wounded.

The Ministry of War is a black five-clawed dragon. The two claws of this dragon hold a long sword and a shield respectively, symbolizing the military force of the Han Dynasty.

The Admiralty's is a five-clawed blue dragon, but if you look closely at this dragon, you will find that except for the head that pops out, most of its body is on the bottom of the sea, symbolizing the power that rules the sea.

Of course, these are all jokes now. Let alone dominating the global oceans, just dominating the West Coast is very offensive. At least the Mexican Navy does not agree, not to mention the current global ocean hegemon... the British Empire, the Royal Navy! ! !

The Propaganda Department is a gentle-looking moose who looks very inoffensive, but according to the tone set by Liu Peng for the Propaganda Department, it is gentle and uses the mildest means to do the most obscene and shameless things.

The Logistics Department is an old scalper who looks very hard-working, which is more in line with the real situation of the Logistics Department. He does the same things as a cow, doing the most diligent and tiring work! !

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is a businessman with gold-rimmed eyes. The businessman holds an abacus and a writing brush in his hands. However, if you find out, the building of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in reality is built opposite the Ministry of Finance.

What it means is no longer clear.

Of course, in addition to these, there is also the Ministry of Infrastructure, which was just established a few days ago. It is responsible for managing the infrastructure and construction work of the entire Han Dynasty. It can be said that it has a heavy responsibility! !
The emblem of the Ministry of Infrastructure is a galloping horse, which means that the infrastructure of Han Dynasty is as fast and as good as a horse...

In addition to the Ministry of Infrastructure, there is the Central Bank. The central bank of Han is collectively known as the Han Empire Bank. Of course, if we are serious, it should be called the Han Empire Settlement Bank.

The outside world calls it the Imperial Bank.

The badge is a huge Kunpeng, as if it has the ability to make waves in the financial world.

The Imperial Bank has great powers, including issuing Chinese dollar silver coins, saving funds, and even government deposits, deposits and withdrawals, etc. It also includes private loans. Of course, the loan qualifications are generally higher than those of local banks.

The qualifications, personal credit, and property mortgage reviews required by the lender are also stricter.

This is also a way to protect the Imperial Bank and try not to have a large number of bad debts like ordinary banks. After all, these bad debts are a hidden danger no matter what, especially for an official institution.

Above the Imperial Bank, there is a larger organization called the Banking Supervision Bureau, referred to as the Banking Supervision Bureau.

The greatest responsibility and power of this banking bureau is to monitor private banks and public banks established by local governments. These banks, whether local banks or private banks, must pay a deposit to the banking bureau. This deposit is currently not available. Less than 20.00% of deposits. Of course, as the reform continues in the future, the relevant share may be adjusted...

If the Imperial Bank is a turbulent Kunpeng, then the badge of the Banking Authority is a locked house, in order to ensure the prosperity and stability of Han Dynasty's financial order...

In addition, there is the Ministry of Agriculture, which is related to food security. Although there is currently no problem of food because of the small number of people and the large amount of land, agricultural technology in this country is underdeveloped and agricultural machinery has not been born. Most of the land is cultivated by oxen and horses. In this era, food is still the most important product in the world. There is no other product. Just look at the Irish people who were starved to death by the British...

How important food is! !
And behind these departments, there is a quietly established department, an organization with a gray crow badge... the Imperial Investigation Bureau, the director... Mo Yu! !

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"Everyone, please take a seat..." Liu Peng looked at the Ministry of Finance officials in front of him in a conference room of the Government Affairs Office and said.

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

The dozen or so Ministry of Finance officials present thanked Liu Peng and then sat in their respective seats.

"Minister Jiang..." After Liu Peng and others took their seats, he greeted Minister Jiang on his left, "Minister Jiang, your health is fine recently. I heard that Minister Jiang has a toothache recently?" Liu Peng said to Minister Jiang Concerned.

"Thank you, Your Highness, the bad tooth has been extracted and another one has been repaired. It is no longer a problem." Minister Jiang opened his mouth and replied to Liu Peng. The moment he opened his mouth, he could still see a golden tooth on the left side. The teeth were inside, shining faintly.

"Mr. Jiang is trading in the old for the new. The more he trades in, the richer he becomes!!" Liu Peng looked at the big gold tooth in Minister Jiang's mouth and joked with a smile.

"Ha ha……"

All the Ministry of Finance officials in the conference room laughed immediately after hearing this, and the tense atmosphere at the scene also eased a lot.

Minister Jiang scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Minister Jiang, your Ministry of Finance should have prepared the current national financial information, right?" Liu Peng waited for the atmosphere to calm down and continued to ask Minister Jiang.

"His Royal Highness, the current national financial data has been basically completed." Minister Jiang replied to Liu Peng with a serious expression, "It's all in here..." Then Minister Jiang took out a briefcase from the briefcase he carried. A thick pile of documents was folded and placed on the table.

"Xiao Yang, go and share it." Minister Jiang then ordered his secretary Xiao Yang.

"Yes, Minister Jiang." Secretary Yang responded to Minister Jiang, then picked up these documents and distributed them in front of everyone present.

"His Royal Highness, colleagues..." After Minister Jiang waited for the materials to be divided, he stood up and said hello to Liu Peng and all the officials from the Ministry of Finance present.

"According to the current verification situation of the entire Dahan Imperial Bank and the collection." Minister Jiang said slowly. The main reason for checking with the Dahan Imperial Bank is that the government deposits are all in the Imperial Bank, not the Ministry of Finance. , the Ministry of Finance is just a place that centrally manages and then allocates financial funds...

The real place to save money is in the Imperial Bank of Han Dynasty, the only central bank in Han Dynasty.

After listening, Liu Peng nodded. This policy was formulated by him himself, mainly to separate financial power and management power. After all, if the Ministry of Finance has money and has the right to take charge of the next batch, is it still the Ministry of Finance? ?

This is basically a bank that has its own ability to spend money externally, and the money in this bank does not belong to the depositors, but is paid by taxes.

Liu Peng still knows the way of checks and balances, so this scene happened now. "According to our latest statistics, in the first half of 1840, including during the Liujiapu period, we collected a total of 1000 and two million Chinese dollars in taxes. If converted into pounds, the total value would be 200 million pounds. "When Minister Jiang said these figures, his face showed excitement. After all, the more money collected, the more it represents the financial capability.

"Of course, this amount of money that really falls within the normal financial scope is only about 700 million. The remaining 500 million came from the confiscation of the homes of local white resisters. The confiscated wealth was not replaced with cash. There are probably about 300 million worth of properties, shops, and even minerals..." Minister Jiang continued to talk about the origin of this huge tax, and when it came to confiscating white property, everyone present had a look on their faces. Heart smile.

Liu Peng even showed a proud smile. After all, he knew exactly how the money came from. It was true, and he got it by ransacking homes one by one.

"Of course, we take a lot and spend a lot, of which military expenses account for the bulk. The cost of building one of our main brigade is about 40 yuan. This does not include the cost of building barracks, because many barracks are It was built by a group of prisoners who were still in labor camps, so the construction cost is negligible..." Minister Jiang talked about the largest financial expenditure at present, military expenditure! !

When Minister Jiang mentioned military expenditures, even Liu Peng, who had always been calm, frowned involuntarily. The military expenditures were really too great and had seriously affected the construction of the Han Dynasty.

You must know that among Liu Peng's plans, there are no less than a dozen that have been stranded due to financial reasons, and each of them can have a decisive impact on the future of the Han Dynasty.

But there is a problem that needs to be solved in all of this, and that is the increasingly huge military expenditure.

"The monthly consumption of each main brigade will reach 12 Chinese yuan, and the consumption of four brigades will reach 140 Chinese yuan, which is [-] Chinese yuan per year..." Speaking of this, Minister Jiang, a civil servant He even showed a distressed expression. The reason why he felt distressed was for no other reason than that these soldiers were so capable! !

All the Ministry of Finance officials present, like Minister Jiang, showed heartbroken expressions. If there were not so much military spending, how good would the country's construction be? !

"In addition, there are two mixed regiments. The construction cost of these two mixed regiments has reached one-third of the main brigade, and the maintenance cost has also reached the level of 4000 yuan per month..." Jiang The minister continued to talk about the issue of military expenditures, "If you include other local mighty camps, these auxiliary arms that serve as soldiers in peacetime and war, the annual military expenditures will exceed 300 million yuan, reaching 340 million yuan. Of course, all of this is It does not include war expenses. If war expenses are included, then basically, on the basis of 340 million Chinese dollars, it will be doubled to more than 720 million Chinese dollars..." When Minister Jiang said these amounts, his voice even Some tremors.

This amount of money is really too big. What is the concept of 720 million Chinese dollars? This amount of money, converted into pounds, is equivalent to 120 million pounds. In this era, this amount of money can be said to be an astronomical figure...

But now, this money, which can be used for many things, is spent on the military. Although this money has to be spent, it still makes many civilian officials dissatisfied. Some officials have even planned to reduce military spending after this war is over. …

Part of the cuts will be used for national construction expenditures and so on.

"And this is not the total military expenditure. If you add the navy's 40 yuan, then the total military expenditure will be 380 million Chinese dollars in peacetime, and 760 million or even 800 million Chinese dollars in wartime." Minister Jiang read this. My hands are trembling when I read the figures. This is 800 million Chinese dollars. The 800 million Han silver dollars were just spent on the bottomless army. It really makes people feel heartbroken every time I think of it. ! ! !
Of course, a problem can also be seen here, that is, the navy's military expenditures are only a fraction of the army's. This can also explain how angry Navy Minister Jiang Yucheng was when he learned that the army had misappropriated navy military expenditures a few days ago! !

After all, the entire navy only has 40 soldiers a year! !
"Go on, don't just look at military expenditures." Liu Peng suddenly said to Minister Jiang at this time. The implication was not to overdo it. He still doesn't know what you civil servants are thinking. Don't you just want to reduce military expenditures? ?
Minister Jiang also understood what Liu Peng meant. It was simply that now, with a formidable enemy in front of him, it was not appropriate for our own people to kill each other.

Even in terms of money, it is fatal. Cutting military spending at this time will only benefit the Mexicans, and the only ones who will be harmed are themselves.

"Beyond that is the current government expenditure." Minister Jiang then talked about government expenditure, "There are several major items of government expenditure, mainly official salaries, urban construction, road construction, and another one is industrial and commercial subsidies... …" Minister Jiang continued to talk to everyone about several major areas of current government fiscal expenditure, which are also the areas that cost the most money.

"The officials are not bad. Thanks to the plan to streamline the military and streamline administration that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has previously decided, the current official expenditure is about 30." When Minister Jiang talked about the salary, he actually sighed in his heart. The entire Han Kingdom, 40, [-] How absurd is this that an official only has a salary of [-] Chinese yuan.

You know, in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, a prefect could earn over 10,000, or even hundreds of thousands taels of silver a year at least. How come I, a big man, am getting poorer as he becomes an official? ?
Of course, in fact, everyone understands that these are difficult times and it is difficult to increase salaries. Therefore, civilian officials hope to reduce military expenditures after the war. Even if they are not reduced, military expenditures must be controlled to prevent the military from fighting indiscriminately. All this is money...the money of their civil servants! !
Of course Liu Peng understands why Minister Jiang just took out the official salary and talked about it first. Wasn't it just to cry bitterly with him? ?

But Liu Peng still looked like an old god, making Minister Jiang's miserable plan come to nothing in an instant.

"Besides that, there are the biggest expenditures, infrastructure construction, and the expenditures on cities that have been built... These two expenditures are the biggest among the big ones." Minister Jiang then mentioned the largest expenditure direction of the government's finances, "Among them, the expenditure on road construction. The biggest, so far, we have spent more than 300 million yuan on road construction." Minister Jiang talked about the money spent on road construction. Although he was a little distressed, everyone present knew that this amount Money must be spent, because only by building roads can all parts of the Han Dynasty be connected, the wealth of the country can be circulated, and industry and commerce can be more prosperous.

Only then can the government collect more taxes. Since building roads has so many benefits, it must increase funds to build them! !

So far, the entire Han Kingdom has built more than [-] kilometers of roads paved with stone and sand, which are what the people call official roads. Because of their high quality, most caravans and government vehicles and horses have Go up here.

This kind of road is also called a first-class highway.

Next are the second-class roads. In fact, the so-called second-class roads are dirt roads built spontaneously by locals, mainly in rural and urban areas far away from the city. Such roads are generally not of high quality and can get muddy on rainy days and are not paved with sand. Stone roads are better.

Of course, in fact, the gravel road is also a temporary measure. According to the plan of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Han Dynasty, it is planned to build a highway paved with cement to replace the existing official road. It will mainly be built between several big cities. Convenient for transportation and material transportation.

Of course, it can’t be repaired now because there is no money! !
"There are also city construction funds. The main construction is actually the four new cities that have just been established." Minister Jiang continued to talk about the issue of city construction, "Because they are new cities, and during the Mexican period, they were not considered big cities. It's basically a brand new one, completely different from Xijing City, which was reconstructed and expanded in Los Angeles." Minister Jiang continued to talk about the city and the issues of urban construction to everyone present.

"Among them, city construction funds and infrastructure funds are the same, reaching more than 300 million yuan." Minister Jiang then talked about the city construction funds, mainly the four new cities. Because there is nothing, it costs extra high……

"If we add in the other 200 fiscal expenditures, our current fiscal expenditures have completely exceeded our current fiscal expenditure of [-] million..." Minister Jiang said with an ugly expression.

"What is the current fiscal deficit?" After listening, Liu Peng frowned and asked Minister Jiang.

"The current fiscal deficit is not high, and the total deficit does not exceed 30, but the subsequent deficit will definitely become larger and larger as time goes by." Minister Jiang replied to Liu Peng with a heavy face, "And Your Highness, please don’t forget that what I just calculated is the military expenditure in a state of peace. If war is included, our fiscal deficit will reach more than 400 million. Even if the war lasts longer, this amount of money will be lost. It will continue to accumulate..." Minister Jiang replied to Liu Peng with an ugly expression.

In Minister Jiang's view, the huge military expenditure has become a huge hole in the Han Dynasty's finances. If this hole is not filled up, the Han Dynasty's finances will not be peaceful.

"But looking at the current situation, there is probably no hope!!"

Minister Jiang sighed secretly in his heart.

"The Ministry of Finance is under a lot of pressure, and I know that. Don't worry, when the war is over, our lives will be more comfortable." Liu Peng looked at the embarrassed Minister Jiang and the Ministry of Finance officials around him. , said comfortingly.

This is not a painting, because according to Liu Peng's estimation and judgment of the international situation, once the war with the Republic of Mexico ends, the next one to two years, or even a long period of time, will not be the same. There will be another large-scale war.

The most common ones are collisions on the border, which are within the tolerable range.

After the war, the entire Han Dynasty will also enter a long period of peace and construction. The army will definitely have to make adjustments. After all, in peacetime, everything must be for construction and everything must make way for the economy...

"I'm not afraid of hard work, I'm just afraid that the country won't be able to use me." Minister Jiang squeezed out tears and replied to Liu Peng, looking very touched.

In fact, everyone present understands that it is just a show, everyone is the same, and there are indeed occasions when it is necessary to put on a show.

"Then how does the Ministry of Finance plan to solve this financial problem?" Liu Peng ignored Minister Jiang's performance just now and went straight to today's topic, financial problems.

"For financial issues, this is our plan. We hope to issue national bonds to solve the current difficulties." Minister Jiang looked at Liu Peng and replied, "Of course, considering that we need a lot of funds for the war this time and the follow-up We need to provide funds for national construction, so external borrowing is also imperative..." Minister Jiang said to Liu Peng cautiously, after all, this external borrowing is indeed very sensitive.

"National debt, external borrowing??" Liu Peng thought about these two things with a serious face, "In this way, the national debt can be handed over to the Imperial Bank for issuance... As for borrowing?" Liu Peng mentioned the borrowing and thought about it. After all, this is This is the first time for Han to borrow money from abroad, so no matter how cautious it is, we cannot be too cautious.

"I will come up with a solution for external borrowing." Liu Peng thought for a long time, and then said to Minister Jiang, "During this period, please hand over the amount of national debt and external borrowing. If it is suitable, I will approve it." Liu Peng solemnly said Looking at everyone in the conference room seriously, he said that he knew that in today's Han Dynasty, only he and his father Liu Yan could make the decision on such a big matter.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise..." Minister Jiang's face lit up and he was the first to react. Then he cupped his fists and thanked Liu Peng.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise..."

Other Ministry of Finance officials in the conference room also thanked Liu Peng.

(End of this chapter)