If the army could be reduced from its current registered strength of approximately 1.2 million to 800,000, military spending would be reduced by one-third, and redundant officials and expenses would be reduced by several million guan, saving approximately 20 million guan a year.
Judging from the expenses incurred by Wang Jing in the Han Dynasty and Pan Jixun in the Ming Dynasty in repairing the Yellow River, if this money had been invested in the management of the Yellow River, not only one Yellow River, but three or four Yellow Rivers could have been repaired.
Therefore, Zhao Jun still attaches great importance to this matter.
In order to dispel the concerns of the generals, Zhao Jun conveyed his goodwill to them while at the same time pulling the Cao family together to form a maritime trade fleet.
This fleet was naturally not heading to North America, but to Korea and Japan. Although the number of fleets heading to Japan and Korea was increasing day by day, and the market share was gradually becoming saturated, Zhao Jun still had connections in Japan.
The fleet was formed in September and set sail in October, first reaching Goryeo and then heading to Japan. After unloading the cargo on board, it returned at the end of November and arrived at Tongzhou Port in early January of the fourth year of the Qingli reign.
And since the trade was conducted in hard currency, the sulfur, copper, and iron brought back from Japan were basically consumed by the imperial court, who purchased them directly with money, so it was almost a sure-win business.
The Cao family invested more than 100,000 strings of cash and finally received more than 200,000 strings of cash, doubling their profits.
In addition, Zhao Jun also asked the Cao family to clear out some of the battalions and soldiers they had previously directly managed, about 4,000 people, to form an engineering construction corps, and contracted them to several river repair projects downstream of Bianliang.
The project started in September and was basically completed in January of the following year. Excluding the wages paid to the soldiers for repairing the river, the net profit from this trip was another 70,000 to 80,000 strings of cash.
The Cao family made a huge fortune.
Cao Cong himself had no intention of rejecting the court, but his family could not represent the opinions of other families.
Zhao Jun believes that as long as the Cao family sets an example, other families will soon follow suit.
On January 10, the fourth year of the Qingli period, at the regular meeting of the Constitutional Council, Zhao Jun sat in the main seat and looked around at everyone.
Because tomorrow is Zhao Jun’s 30th birthday, he is still very happy.
Although every birthday brings you one year older, it is still a happy day, and this afternoon is the time to prepare for the showdown.
"Corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other crops have also been promoted in Gyeonggi-do. The yields aren't as exaggerated as 1,000 kilograms per mu, but they are slightly higher than rice and wheat."
"And it doesn't occupy farmland. So, as long as the court provides a certain amount of subsidies, I believe that many people will be willing to cultivate these crops."
"The production method of chemical fertilizers has been promoted throughout the country and incorporated into the performance evaluation of local governments. The downside is that the price of gypsum is skyrocketing. The court is now urgently excavating gypsum mines. However, there is no shortage of this material. It can be found all over the country."
"Through expanded production, the Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant has reached a half-year output of approximately four million jin of steel. Converted to the tons Hanlong often mentions, this is approximately 20,000 tons. This is equivalent to one-eighth of the current annual iron production of the Song Dynasty."
"There are other miscellaneous matters. Looking at last year's work summary, all the figures have increased significantly. For example, in the second half of last year, the ocean trade revenue reached 19 million guan, an increase of 3 million guan over the second half of the previous year. This is cause for celebration."
Fan Zhongyan was making his speech and said with a smile, "Also, once this year's large-scale military reduction project is completed, we'll have enough manpower to start digging a canal between the Mingshui and Zhangshui rivers. We can then build a steel plant in Handan, increasing our steel production again. This is all good news."
“As long as you are at the bottom, you are climbing up.”
Zhao Jun also smiled and said, "The Song Dynasty is now in a period of rise. What it lacked before was a vision for the future. Now that the Political System Council is in control, as long as we unswervingly follow the Political System Council, the country will prosper. Within a hundred years, my strategy of becoming the only power in the East will surely be completed."
Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others actually already knew about this year's plan. It was kept secret from them before because we hadn't found a particularly good solution, which caused them to strongly oppose it. But now that a solution has been found, it naturally doesn't matter.
Anyway, they don't have any conflicts of interest in the army.
Lu Yijian coughed twice. Since the beginning of this spring, the health of several elderly people in the Constitutional Council has not been very good. Historically, these people have died one after another in recent years. The only reason they are still alive is purely because of the medicine brought by Zhao Jun.
After coughing, he said in a deep voice, "As for the issue of redundant officials and unnecessary expenses, it's not impossible to implement it if we make up our minds and think of ways to deal with it. But as for the issue of redundant troops, I've always felt that we should do it step by step. Reducing a few tens of thousands of people each year would be enough. Why a one-size-fits-all approach?"
"If we lay off tens of thousands of people every year, how long would it take to lay off over a million people?"
Zhao Jun frowned and said, "Now is a period of great development. We can't be timid. Besides, the court has found a livelihood for these people. Their future may be better than in the military camp."
"It's the same problem again. Even if the barracks are stable, the soldiers may not necessarily agree to it. And..."
Lu Yijian hesitated for a moment and said nothing.
"And what?"
"And in fact, we all heard that the vacancies are probably more than 200,000."
Wang Zeng tentatively said, "The gap is probably quite large."
They actually didn't know the specific situation, but after all, they had been prime ministers for so many years, so naturally they had heard some things.
“.”
Zhao Jun was silent for a moment before he said, "Well, it doesn't matter much. As long as they all agree and cooperate with the reform, it doesn't matter if the quota is a little larger. You have to pay for the sins of your ancestors."
Who had allowed his ancestors to give up military power with a toast, allowing military generals and nobles to amass wealth according to his orders? If this matter were investigated, Zhao Kuangyin would probably be dragged out of his grave and whipped.
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