"Expand enrollment! I want to establish a fifth division!" Li Xiao walked into Sun Chengzong's study and hurriedly said something.

Sun Chengzong was buried in the official document without even raising his head. Li Xiao had no choice but to sit down on the chair. The maid immediately brought a cup of tea. The boss of the Sun family took it personally and placed it on the table next to Li Xiao.

After writing the last word, Sun Chengzong put down the brush. He took off his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose that was a little sore.

"It's not impossible to expand the army, but the Ministry of War's budget for this year is 3.5 million silver dollars. You approved Li Xiu's expansion of the Marine Corps Division, and together with the Navy's warship budget for this year, the total is 1.9 million silver dollars.

There are also various main divisions to add equipment, and an arsenal is to be built in the northwest. You also approved the arsenal of the Navy in Qinhuangdao, and...!"

"Old Sun...!"

"Okay, I won't say any more. Let me tell you a real number. So far this year, the military expenditure has been a total of 3.9 million silver dollars. It's only September, and the budget has already exceeded 400,000 taels of silver. Brother Xiao, only now

There are still three months to go in September. Only God knows how much this year’s military expenditure exceeds the budget.

You are now going to form the fifth division. According to the rules you have set, the main division is scheduled to have 33,900 men, and there is also a garrison division responsible for auxiliary work. In other words, the total number of troops in the army will be more than 43,000.

.

More than 43,000 people, salaries, uniforms, food, barracks construction, and organization of training all require money. This does not include the cost of equipment. At least 35,000 rifles are needed, as well as mortars, rocket launchers and you

What kind of howitzer is that newly tinkered with? One howitzer shell costs eighty silver dollars. You plan to buy twenty-four of them for a division. Each gun has one hundred rounds of ammunition. Don't calculate how much the howitzer costs first.

How many silver dollars does a cannonball cost?

Take 10,000 steps back, even if you have got the money now. The Northwest Arsenal is still on the drawing board, and the Qinhuangdao Naval Arsenal is being established. The Jinzhou Arsenal plus the Changxing Island Arsenal can only produce a thousand or several hundred rifles a month. With this output,

It is difficult to equip the existing main divisions to cope with the consumption in the northwest. Now you touch your upper lip to your lower lip and tell me to form a fifth division. Are you planning to let them go to the battlefield empty-handed?

To tell you the truth, Yuan Chonghuan has asked for new rifles eight times. So far, he has not allocated them. Why? Because the production is so large, it has to be supplied to the northwest and the Marine Corps in limited quantities. Yuan Chonghuan can only supply it in a month.

A hundred or so sticks. Did you know that half of Yuan Chonghuan's division still uses old-fashioned rifles?

You are now the commander in charge of thousands of troops, not the little gangster who led hundreds of people in Pidao back then. Just say what you want to say? Think about it first!" Sun Chengzong stood up, and Boss Sun hurried over to help him, but he was

Dad pushed him away.

Sun Chengzong pouted his beard and walked up to Li Xiao angrily: "Because the peasants share the land, the officials and the gentry work as errands and pay the grain. There is a lot of trouble in Jiangnan, and that is the money bag of our Ming Dynasty. If it is so virtuous, only Wanli can pay taxes."

level between years.

This year the Yellow River overflowed, causing disasters in Henan and Shandong. There was a drought in Shaanxi and an earthquake in Shanxi. There are famines everywhere. The court has to provide disaster relief, build railways, and bear more and more of your military expenditures.

And what about you? The whole country has promoted the idea that the officials and gentry should pay the grain and work as errands. The officials and the gentry have paid the grain. But what about the warlords? Ao Canghai sells private salt in the Northeast, buys grain to make wine and sells it. Has he paid the tax of a copper brother?

Yuan Chonghuan was in Fujian, dealing with maritime merchants all day long. He constantly dispatched ships to bypass the Municipal Shipping Department to import goods. How much money did the Municipal Shipping Department lose? Have you calculated it?

Zu Dashou was digging coal in Shaanxi, while Cao Wenzhao was on the front line. He also knew how to buy wool, cattle and sheep on the grasslands and traffic them to the capital to make a fortune.

I would like to ask you, are these people you found leading soldiers or doing business? Are they a group of bandits, merchants, or the regular main force of the Ming Empire?

Oh! By the way, there is also Mangui.Man...!"

Li Xiao has two heads, and Sun Chengzong's words always ring in his ears. In recent years, he has indeed been too indulgent to the main force. The army's business is definitely a taboo that destroys the combat effectiveness. And once the army

Once the economy is under control, the army is no longer an army, but a warlord.

In the past two years, he knew that the main force was secretly involved in some business. He always thought that it was not easy for them to go through life and death in these years, so it didn't matter if they made some money, as long as it was useful in fighting.

I never expected that the main force would be in such deep trouble.

"Fortunately! The ministries have not been doing business for a long time now. If they deal with it seriously, they will still have some effects. The army is the army, and it is used for fighting. It is not their turn to do business, so there will naturally be merchants to do it. By not paying taxes,

Wantonly suppressing prices and disrupting the market. This has endangered the foundation of Ming Dynasty's industry and commerce. What you have to do now is not to expand the army, but to improve military discipline."

"I know! This matter is my responsibility. I will go to each division today. No matter what, I will chop off their outstretched paws. I was also carried away by the Huzi incident just now.

, thinking of teaching the Mongols some lessons."

"How is Hu Zi?"

"His life has been saved. How he recovers in the future depends on him."

"If you need any medicine, you can get it directly from the Da Nei Pharmacy. There are many rare medicinal materials there. Even if you don't use them, those eunuchs will have to steal them all. What I just said has already touched upon the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's industry and commerce.

.Only you can do this. If others take care of those arrogant soldiers, they might be shot dead.

Cutting off a person's wealth is like killing his parents!"

"I know, I will get things done."

"In my opinion, we still have to rely on Geritu for matters in the northwest. Give Geritu more equipment. They are all Mongols, and the cavalry is their advantage, not ours. It's just that there is no suitable person to do it. Originally

Zhang Huangyan is suitable. But recently he has been busy coordinating matters between the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Railways, and the Ministry of Water Resources, and he really can't get away.

Hey...! What we are most lacking now is usable and suitable people." Sun Chengzong sighed helplessly. There are only so many people who have studied in the world. It will take at least a few years for the students we train now to be able to

Become an official. And you can’t just let a child who has just graduated from elementary school become an official.

Could it be said that we are still forced to use Donglin Party members? We must not have another Meridian Gate Incident, as that will damage the foundation of the country.

"I do have a candidate."

"who?"
Chapter completed!