Chapter 2479 Gui Zijuan points out the country and talks freely

This conversation lasted for three hours, and we had lunch in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Fang Congzhe was certainly very interested, but Feng Ziying did not say anything.

 In fact, there were not many differences in military affairs. Feng Ziying's point of view that there was no need to fear Mongolia and that the Jurchens should not be left behind was deeply in line with Fang Congzhe's thoughts.

Of course, he shouldn't have proposed Bailianxudan as the minister of the Ministry of War at all. That was the job of the Ministry of Punishment, but since Fang Congzhe asked about it, he was not polite.

Feng Ziying suggested that Mongolia should still adopt the methods of co-opting, dividing and disintegrating, and supporting the weak and hoeing the strong.

 In front of the Tumut people, Su Nang is strong, so they must support the legitimacy of King Bu Shi Tu Shunyi and use Bu Shi Tu to contain and suppress Su Nang.

As for the Mongolian left wing, they are vigorously supporting the five Inner Khalkha ministries to eliminate the Chahar people.

This can not only cut off the connection between the Jurchens in Jianzhou and the Chahar people, but also effectively curb the Chahar people's attempts to go south.

 For the Jianzhou Jurchens, multiple strategies must still be adopted.

 To the west, support the Inner Khalkhas and Haixi Jurchens to contain them, and at the same time resolutely prevent Horqin from falling to the Jianzhou Jurchens.

 Establish Dongjiang Town in the east, use Fenghuang City and Jiulian City as strongholds, set out to retake Kuandian Liubao, steal peaches from the bottom of the southern wing, and dig out the roots of Jianzhou Jurchen.

In addition, the Denglai Navy must be used to deter North Korea, resolutely block the contacts between North Korea and the Jianzhou Jurchens, firmly control North Korea, and prevent it from secretly collaborating with the Jianzhou Jurchens.

In addition, internally, the hidden dangers caused by Li Yongfang's defection must be eliminated, and the economic and trade exchanges between the mainland and the Jianzhou Jurchens must be cut off, and the export of military and civilian supplies to the Jianzhou Jurchens must be resolutely prohibited.

At the same time, the imperial court should further increase the replacement of Liaodong Town, establish a new army based on firearms, and gradually replace the old army based on cold weapons, improve combat effectiveness, and ensure military superiority.

This series of opinions is quite detailed and feasible.

Feng Ziying did not make any unrealistic demands. Even if it was to establish Dongjiang Town and renovate Liaodong Town, he suggested that the court could make plans slowly based on the financial situation.

Fang Congzhe also had to admit that many of Feng Ziying's opinions on military affairs were more insightful and profound than most people in the DPRK.

 After all, he grew up in a border martial arts family since he was a child. He was exposed to military affairs. He was well aware of all the shortcomings in the army and had experienced many wars.

 From the northwest to Liaodong, he has basically experienced it, and he knows where there are problems and weaknesses.

Feng Ziying himself had a lot of dealings with the imperial household department and knew the financial situation of the imperial court well.

 Only by knowing these two aspects can we come up with a set of practical things for formulating a development strategy suitable for the future military system of the Zhou Dynasty.

 Otherwise, those ministers of the Ministry of War who do not know the military are either imagining and having no clue, or they are following the old rules and regulations.

The Minister of the Ministry of War who is not familiar with finance is either too ambitious or eager to achieve success and puts forward some unrealistic ideas that are difficult to bear financially.

 From this perspective, Feng Ziying is indeed a very suitable candidate for Minister of War, but of course this is not the case now.

If Feng Ziying really wants to be promoted to the position of Minister, it will take several years of experience, even if he has a lot of experience.

 But this age is too embarrassing, so I have to practice it a few more times.

 After Feng Ziying finished discussing his military affairs ideas, he felt that Fang Congzhe was very satisfied.

Since the other party was satisfied and in a good mood, Feng Ziying naturally did not miss the opportunity and took the opportunity to talk about some of her ideas on Dazhou's finances.

 In his opinion, stimulating fiscal expansion was the most suitable thing for the Zhou Dynasty.

 With the return of Jiangnan, the national debt strategy can actually be further increased.

 The use of national debt is mainly to solve the shortcomings of farmland water conservancy infrastructure in the north.

In places like Shanxi, Henan, and Beizhi, many water conservancy facilities have been in disrepair for many years, resulting in poor harvests and disasters in years of floods and droughts.

 In another direction of using national debt, Feng Ziying suggested that it be used to vigorously promote the planting of potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, three new crops introduced from the West.

 Fang Congzhe has no objection to the former point, but Fang Congzhe has some doubts about the latter point.

However, Fang Congzhe was shocked when Feng Ziying showed a comparative diagram of potato, sweet potato and corn planting yields from the northwest, especially in Shaanxi.

 On the same piece of land, the yield of both potatoes and sweet potatoes is at least three times more, and the highest is five to six times. Of course, this involves the issue of grain moisture.

 But corn and wheat also have moisture problems, and potatoes and sweet potatoes are not unknown.

He has even tasted it and compared it with wheat and corn. Except for the slightly unique taste of potatoes, sweet potatoes are even suitable for people who like sweet food.

Of course, he is not sure whether people will get tired of eating potatoes and sweet potatoes for many years. But for the homeless and hungry people who are suffering from floods and droughts, do you have a choice?

You enjoy eating bark, grass and roots very much, but if you really can't handle it, you have eaten Guanyin soil and cannibalized human flesh. Now that the imperial court allows you to eat potatoes and sweet potatoes, aren't you satisfied?

That would be a really boring life.

"Xiang Fang, actually the taste of potatoes is not as bad as we thought. I think if you eat it for a long time, you will feel nauseous or unpalatable. They are basically the staple food in Xiyi. Besides, we are all hungry. Damn it, do you still care about the taste? I have calculated the situation in the North, especially in Shaanxi..."

 Feng Ziying is making some nonsense.

 Westerners have not yet taken potatoes as their staple food, or the lower class’s acceptance of potatoes is growing, but that is also when black and white bread cannot satisfy them.

But Fang Congzhe and the others didn't know it anyway. This was just to enhance the confidence of the people in the court.

"In Shaanxi, from the first year of Yonglong to the tenth year of Yonglong, there were local disasters almost every year. This local area also refers to the situation where more than three to five counties and less than ten counties suffered from poor harvests. Every two years, it is a medium-sized disaster, that is, If one or twenty counties are affected by a disaster, there will definitely be a major disaster in three years, that is, more than one-third of the counties will be affected. In five years, there will definitely be a major disaster, that is, a disaster that will affect more than 70% of the counties..."

"The Shaanxi civil uprising turned into civil unrest. There are many problems here. The farmland and water conservancy facilities have been in disrepair for many years. The local officials and gentry are greedy and brutal. God is blind. The people have almost no savings. The government is unable to provide relief. There is a huge gap between the wealth of the gentry and the poor. , in several aspects,…”

“Every time a civil upheaval turns into civil unrest, it does great harm to the imperial court. This is not only the cost of relief and suppression, but also the great harm to the authority of the entire imperial court, especially the authority of local officials.…”

"I don't deny that when I was the governor, I spent a lot of energy to solve the problem. I adopted multiple strategies and even used some shady methods. It seemed to suppress the situation, but I am not sure how long it can last... "

“The situation in Shanxi is actually similar, except that the situation in Shanxi is slightly better, the people are slightly richer, and Shanxi and Shaanxi influence each other. Once there is another major disaster, it may be another war and the court will fall into passivity again,…”

"Instead of waiting passively like that, the imperial court should make up its mind and invest heavily. Not to mention completely solving the problems of Shanxi and Shaanxi, but to make great efforts in the construction of farmland water conservancy facilities and the promotion of new crops, at least it will be better than what you spent on the military in the end. Isn’t the investment loss much greater?”

Fang Congzhe knew very well that the scholars in the north were very dissatisfied with the imperial court's emphasis on Jiangnan.

Although both sides can generally maintain a relatively harmonious situation, it is an indisputable fact that natural disasters have continued in the Northland in the past twenty years, leading to civil unrest.

Many officials in the North have always believed that the imperial court has not invested enough in the construction of farmland water conservancy facilities and road transportation in the North, which has affected the already poor agricultural production situation in the North and is also a major factor in the frequent civil unrest in the North and heavy losses. reason.

But from the perspective of the imperial court or Jiangnan officials, the imperial court's annual expenditure on nine-border military affairs was too huge, and Jiangnan's high taxes had made it unbearable for Jiangnan.

Since the imperial court only has so much tax revenue, it is unrealistic to increase investment in these aspects. Otherwise, it will have to reduce investment in nine-border military affairs, which will also face the risk of mutiny and weakened border defense.

This has become a paradox. Without increasing investment, the conditions in the North will be difficult to improve, and it will be even more difficult to withstand natural disasters. Civil unrest and civil unrest continue, and the court will increase military expenditures. If it is impossible to reduce other expenditures, it will increase taxes. Jiangnan did not agree, so in this case, the debt of the imperial household department increased sharply, and now exceeds 20 million.

 This also keeps Ye Fang, Huang Ruliang and others awake at night.

 Feng Ziying understands the concerns of Ye Fang, Huang Ruliang and others about high debts. Anyone else would feel the same pressure to be in debt.

This classical view that fiscal revenue and expenditure must be balanced or even have a surplus is also in line with the views of people of this era, but Feng Ziying does not think so.

 …

"After all, Prime Minister Fang is actually worried about the national debt and borrowings. He is worried that if he cannot repay these debts, the country's credibility will collapse, right?" Feng Ziying said with a smile.

Fang Congzhe has long known that Feng Ziying has his own theory on finance, and he also wants to discuss this issue with him.

 Fang Congzhe nodded silently, Feng Ziying naturally would not give up such a good opportunity.

"..., in fact, Fang Xiang may also be vaguely aware that with the continuous growth of sea trade, the silver in our territory in the Great Zhou Dynasty is showing a sharp growth trend, or to put it simply, the silver shipped from Songjiang, Ningbo, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou After every ship of porcelain, silk, tea, iron, and cloth arrived in Luzon, 60% was exchanged for silver, 20% was exchanged for gold and copper, and 20% was exchanged for other materials such as precious wood and spices. groceries,…”

“If it is transported by sea ship to the old port or Manlajia, the situation is slightly different. It may become 30% silver, 40% spices, and 30% will be firearms, precious wood and other Western goods and other miscellaneous goods,..."

 (End of this chapter)