New Shun 1730

Liu Yu did not dare to interfere in the issue of flood control, as he could not control God.

But if it came to guaranteeing the 6 million shi of grain needed by the capital, the garrison and the field army, he could take on the responsibility with a pat on his chest.

Although fighting with the sky is endless fun; fighting with people is also endless fun.

But in the end, compared with fighting with the sky and the earth for flood control, it is more fun to fight with people to ensure the grain supply. At least you can control your own destiny, but you can't control whether there will be a once-in-a-century heavy rain for flood control.

Over the years, the emperor still trusted Liu Yu very much. He felt that if Liu Yu patted his chest to guarantee something, he must have a plan in mind. From the Luosha border war that year to this trip to Southeast Asia, this has been confirmed.

It's just that the emperor always felt that Liu Yu would sometimes use some means of "killing first and reporting later" or "forcing the court to follow". This has formed a habitual thinking.

Hearing Liu Yu propose a policy that sounds "very reasonable and very beneficial to the court", the emperor almost subconsciously thought about what impact this might cause? What decisions might it "force" the court to make in the future?

After thinking for a long time, it seems that at most it will force the court not to disband the navy and must ensure a navy with absolute advantages in Nanyang.

Apart from this, there is nothing else to see for the time being.

When Mi Ziming was appointed as the Protector of Nanyang before, the palace played a test and Mi Ziming said that it should be divided into "inside and outside". Nanyang's industry cannot develop, and the chaotic islands make it difficult for Nanyang to have a strong separatist force.

Because although Nanyang has teak, shipbuilding is not only a technical job, but also a money-eating beast.

To have a fleet of more than ten battleships, you need a centralized central government, tax guarantees from dozens of provinces, a strong handicraft industry as support, a complete set of canvas, cable and sawmill industries, and a logistics management office under the Ministry of the Navy... In short, Nanyang does not have such conditions.

There is a very recent example that Dashun is also very familiar with, which is the Netherlands. It is several times richer than Nanyang, has ten times more navigation skills than Nanyang, and has a hundred times more tradition of ocean-going naval warfare than Nanyang, but the result is that now it can't even put together a battleship fleet.

In Liu Yu's words, it's like looking at the youngest battleship of the Netherlands, which is about the same age as his father, in Amsterdam, thinking about the Dutch once crisscrossing the world, it really feels "sorrow of millet separation", which makes people cry and laugh.

Therefore, it seems that as long as there is a fleet in Tianjin, Weihai, and Lushun, which are very close to the capital and the army field troops can control the port artillery at any time, there is no need to worry that Nanyang will threaten the stability of the imperial court's grain supply.

No need to worry about rebellion and separatism.

The rest is easy to deal with.

The emperor secretly thought that Shou Chang's methods were indeed different from ordinary people. If he was said to be smart, it was not true. As he said, it was just that the one who was close to the water got the moon first. After being exposed to the methods of Western colonization, his ideas were very different from those of the court.

But the fear is not that he was smart, if he was really smart, it would be fine. Han Bai, Li Yue, Zhou Gong and Wu Hou, they were all extraordinary people, rare in a century, and could not be replicated.

What is feared is that "the one who was close to the water got the moon first" can come up with such a method.

This method of colonial expansion has been used skillfully by Westerners. Westerners do not need to be close to the water. I am afraid that they are water in colonial expansion. If they had more clever people... like the talents of the top scholars in the imperial examinations, if they had such a way of thinking, the methods they came up with would probably be better than those of Shou Chang. The top smart people among the Westerners had such a way of thinking... Sure enough, the enemy is still in the ocean, not in the northwest and northeast.

In any case, the navy must continue to be built.

Malacca should be Shanhaiguan. And India should be the northeast, isolating Luosha from Shanhaiguan. This matter must be done.

In this case, he wanted to "force" the court to continue to maintain shipbuilding to ensure the grain supply to Nanyang, which was not a problem, and it had to be done anyway.

Since this was not a problem, the remaining things were indeed good strategies and very beneficial.

Killing three birds with one stone, killing many birds with one stone.

"What you said is really refreshing."

"Let me do the math. If we support 300,000 soldiers, the monthly salary is two taels, plus food... Your requirements are high, not only for food, but also for being full. This year, we need 5 million taels of silver."

"Spend another 5 million taels every year, and do it every year."

"This money did not go to the household government before. It could be solved by the local officials' apportionment and labor service. But now it goes to the household government, and the court has to spend money."

"The household government's stall is getting bigger and bigger, but the income has not increased much. I'm afraid the household government will not agree. If it comes from my treasury, it will not work after all, and it needs to be institutionalized."

Since it is institutionalized, it means that the money must go to the household government and the national treasury.

And the household government and the national treasury are divided into the inside and outside of the world, so this money must be obtained from the imperial court.

The emperor was also asking Liu Yu about Liao Hanhui's "tax increase on the Huai River" issue.

Liu Yu was not very enthusiastic about this. He felt that if the fundamental issue of ownership was not changed, it would just be a patchwork.

Moreover, the cost of taxation was there, and the emperor had the means to collect taxes: a large number of new students and good families from the Wude Palace, with enough talent reserves to parachute into Lianghuai, check the land, and place enough grassroots tax collectors to control it.

In the long run, the problem of "new student degeneration" will definitely occur, but in the short term, it can indeed achieve a seemingly contradictory and huge result - to increase taxes and reduce the burden on the people at the same time.

The emperor was well versed in the art of balancing these things, so it was natural that he would not have thought of them.

So Liu Yu said: "Your Majesty should discuss the household government affairs with the imperial court. But before the Huaihe River is regulated, it is impossible to increase taxes, and it will be almost enough to be repaid. I believe that this money will still come out of internal funds within three to five years." It’s appropriate. There are more than just two Huai rivers in the world. The bottom line is the government’s money.”

"The transformation of the southwest to the native land and the migration to the northwest are two things that cannot be done by the methods that I am good at. It is impossible for private capital to invest money here. Businessmen are seeking profits. Things in the southwest and northwest still have to be promoted by the court."

"The only thing I am good at is the Whale Sea and the South Ocean, where merchants can make profits."

"As for the extra five million taels a year, does it count as a policy of redundant troops... I believe that if there is something to do, it is not a redundant army."

"If the Huai River can be controlled, what else can't be controlled except the big rivers? This is similar to the navy."

"If it is not used, it is a redundant force. If it is used, it is not."

The emperor hummed, thinking that I knew whether the navy was redundant or not. If you really get the benefit of Nanyang's body poison in the future, I guess the prince may not be so stupid, so you don't need to worry too much.

After thinking for a while, the emperor asked again: "If the rice is really sent to Taiwan in Southeast Asia, Ai Qing thinks, how many people can be moved every year? How many disaster victims can be resettled?"

Liu Yu had already made plans.

Since private capital participated in the voyage to Nanyang and "relief for work", in fact, it is enough to consider the quantity according to the thinking of the slave trade.

In fact, the spices in Southeast Asia have almost reached their peak. After the theory of the four liquids of the human body receded in Europe, spices are not used so much anymore.

Rice plantations, indigo plantations, cotton plantations, and coffee plantations are the keys to the future development of Nanyang.

Judging from the situation of sugar mills and sugar cane plantations in Nanyang before, even if there is a special situation of "residence permit", I am afraid that after the establishment of plantations, those who work in the plantations will not have an easy life.

The voyage of the slave trade was very long, and the voyage to the South China Sea from the Huaihe River was not very close.

The source of the population is either disaster victims or people who owe loan sharks and are "sold" to Nanyang to repay their debts.

Of course, there are no slaves in Dashun, only long-term indentured workers who may be able to repay their debts throughout their lives. They are indeed not slaves in a legal sense. But... Liu Yu still knew whether it was true or not.

Judging from the efficiency of a slave ship carrying a thousand people, if the imperial court really sent rice to Nanyang, it would not be a problem to accommodate 200,000 to 300,000 people in the first year.

The mortality rate is high, and the Huanghuai area in Nanyang must not be suitable for the harsh environment. Add in mosquitoes, malaria, fever and the like. If the 300,000 are gone, there will probably be 150,000 or 60,000 left alive the next year.

There were 300,000 people in the first year, and about 100,000 more will be added every year starting from the second year. Waiting for subsequent development, as the population increases and trade expands, the number will definitely increase gradually.

Mining, growing coffee, growing cotton, cutting down trees, etc. will only be developed after four or five years.

After calculation, Liu Yu said: "Except for the first year, one hundred thousand per year can be guaranteed. It will gradually increase in the future."

"With these 100,000 people, the imperial court doesn't have to spend money to provide relief. Moreover, most of the young and strong people have been picked off, and the remaining old and weak people...well, it is unlikely to 'rebellion'."

"Including those who were recruited into the Xiang army at the expense of the imperial court, the transformation pain of the abandoned canal should be under control."

"It's false to say that there are millions of canal works, but if we can really solve the problem of five or six hundred thousand, that's about it."

The emperor nodded. Over the years, he had seen a little bit of the power of "private capital".

Immigration to the Western Regions does not involve private capital at all and is unprofitable. The imperial court spent so much money that the emperor panicked.

To be kind, the cost of migration for a person is about 100 taels, or even 150 taels, to settle in Ili.

Although the cost of migration has gradually decreased as settlements have increased and food has become more self-sufficient, the money is still expensive to spend.

If there are too few people, the eggs are of no use, and if there are too many people, the eggs cannot be spent.

In the previous development of Jinghai and Ezo, the imperial court did not pay a dime, and even collected the purchase fee.

As a result, because it was profitable, within a few years, there were more than tens of thousands of people in Whale Sea Ezo and other places.

The fundamental reason is that the ship can easily run from Ezo to Japan and Tianjin. The ship cannot run from Gansu to Ili.

Now Liu Yu promises to guarantee about 100,000 yuan a year, and the court will not spend a penny - in theory, the money to buy rice should be earmarked. Even if it is not given to Nanyang, it still has to be spent to buy rice; or the rice can be directly levied , then rice is not money - this indeed solved many problems after the canal was abandoned.

But the emperor still asked a key question.

"How can Aiqing ensure that all the six million dollars every year are used to develop Nanyang? Instead of being used to buy land in Jiangnan?"

"I am worried that the money intended to alleviate the problem of man and land and slow down the harm of mergers will actually promote the mergers?"

"Businessmen are looking for profits. How can they ensure that the money is used where the court wants it to be used? What if the six million dollars every year instead of going to Yangnan go to southern Jiangsu to buy land and hoard it?"