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On the day of the Little New Year, Qin Mu summoned the cabinet ministers, the ministers and vice ministers of various ministries, as well as the generals of the navy and the army such as Meng Ke, Liu Meng, and Di Zhongxing to the Wuying Palace, where they had a drink and talked as a year-end summary.
In that year, except for a few counties in Shandong that suffered from severe drought, which led to a large reduction in crop yields, the weather in other places was good, and all grains had a bumper harvest. The court also successfully solved the problem of low grain prices hurting farmers by recruiting a large number of prisoners to build roads.
Industry and commerce continued to flourish, and scientific and technological achievements were fruitful; the domestic order was generally quite stable, people were eager to govern, officials were diligent and honest, and the people had enough food and clothing and lived and worked in peace and contentment.
Of course, this was the case when most dynasties were founded.
It was just that the Qin Dynasty encountered many opportunities that it had never had before. For example, the introduction of new crops such as corn increased grain production exponentially, which not only quickly solved the problem of food for the people of the Celestial Empire, but also, due to the surplus food, in turn promoted the construction of domestic roads.
In addition, Qin Mu vigorously supported industry and commerce, focused on scientific and technological innovation, vigorously promoted the civilian use of science and technology, and used the navy to plunder foreign countries on a large scale, providing blood transfusions to the country that had suffered years of war. This enabled the Qin Dynasty to recover several times faster than at the beginning of its establishment, and all industries became more prosperous.
Liu Boquan, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge and Minister of Revenue, said happily: "Your Majesty, this year the court's annual revenue has reached 92 million dragon coins, of which commercial tax revenue accounts for 54%, exceeding agricultural tax. The total expenditure is 61.9 million dragon coins, and the surplus is 30.1 million dragon coins."
Thirty million dragon coins are actually equivalent to about twenty million taels of silver. But think about it, the total annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty was only a few million, and now the Qin Dynasty has only been established for a few years. It is really remarkable to have a surplus of twenty million taels.
Qin Mu was just happy for a moment, but when he thought about it, he felt that it was nothing. It seemed that when Li Shimin ascended the throne, he faced an even more difficult situation. He was forced to the outskirts of Chang'an by the Turks and signed a humiliating alliance.
As a result, it only took Li Shimin four years to rise to power in the fourth year of Zhenguan. Not only did he revive all industries in the country, he also destroyed the powerful Eastern Turks in one fell swoop and became the Heavenly Khan.
I have hundreds of years of experience, and I can continue to plunder foreign countries to provide blood transfusions for the country. I have made the Qin Dynasty like this. Compared with Li Er, there is really nothing to be proud of.
Qin Mu was reflecting on himself, but the ministers present were delighted. In fact, the Qin Dynasty had many military operations, and the country was also building roads and spending money everywhere. Without raising taxes, there was still a surplus of 30 million dragon coins. All the ministers were overjoyed.
"The Holy Lord is on the throne, and the world is at peace!"
"Your Majesty is benevolent to all things, and your virtue spreads throughout the world, which is why the world is well governed. I, your subjects, congratulate Your Majesty..."
"Alright, alright, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... To be honest, I also like to hear you ministers sing my praises. But you'd better sing less praises, lest I become intoxicated and lose track of where I am, which would be counterproductive."
This is a drink in Wuying Hall. The scene is relatively relaxed, and everyone is not so restrained. They all laughed. Even Yang Tinglin smiled and said: "Your Majesty's benevolence benefits the world, and it is indeed not flattery from us. What is even more rare is that Your Majesty can reflect on himself from time to time, and I am even more pleased."
Qin Mu smiled and said, "As the saying goes, one hero needs three helpers. Without the dedicated assistance of all the ministers, how could the world be so peaceful today? I will never forget the contributions of all the ministers.
Today, I invite all the ministers to come for a drink, not only to summarize the gains and losses of our monarch and ministers over the past year, but also to thank all the ministers for their loyalty and diligence in assisting me in governing the world. Here, I want to say that all the ministers have worked hard. "
"I dare not. Your Majesty is diligent in government and loves the people. He works hard day and night. That is the real hard work..."
"Well, there is no need for us to be too polite with each other. Come, ministers, please drink this cup with me."
"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"
After everyone drank a cup together, the Minister of Works Song Yingxing said, "Your Majesty, the court has set up telegraphs and built asphalt roads, and the initial sales have been successful, which has greatly accelerated the flow of materials and made the connections between various places closer. However, both good policies are still in the initial stage and need further investment. Since the national treasury has a surplus of up to 30 million this year, I suggest that an additional 10 million dragon coins be invested in telegraphs and road construction next year."
Qin Mu laughed and said, "Minister Song seems to be an impatient person, hahahaha... I think it's okay to increase some investment, but not so much. It's better to do things step by step. Investing all at once will easily lead to overcapacity and indigestion in the future."
When Liu Boquan heard this, he immediately said, "Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is wise!"
The Qin Dynasty's investment in this area is not small. Last year, 470,000 prisoners were used to build roads. According to the planned number, the number will be increased to 800,000 this year.
Therefore, perhaps some investment could be increased in the construction of telegraph lines, but Qin Mu did not intend to increase the scale in the construction of asphalt roads.
He changed the subject and asked, "My Lords, what do you think of Ceylon?"
Qin Mu has no plans to include India into the territory of the Qin Dynasty for the time being, and it will probably be just an overseas colony in the end.
But Ceylon was different. This pearl in the Indian Ocean occupied too important a geographical location. Qin Mu couldn’t help but think about it unless it was completely incorporated into the territory of the Qin Dynasty.
Gu Jun'en, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, said: "Your Majesty, the ocean is different from the land. It is passable everywhere, but due to supply and storms, it is highly dependent on some important strategic nodes. Ceylon is located in the center of the Western Ocean and is a must-pass place for the East-West shipping route. Controlling Ceylon is equivalent to controlling the throat key of the Western Ocean.
In addition, if the Qin wants to better control India, Ceylon is an indispensable stronghold and springboard. With Ceylon in hand, the Qin can attack and defend in the West, forming a strong threat to the Indian mainland. Therefore, I think it is very necessary to incorporate Ceylon into the territory of the Qin and operate it as the most important stronghold of the Qin in the West. "
Admiral Di Zhongxing also said: "Your Majesty, according to the intelligence sent back by the ocean-going fleet, after the Dutch occupied Ceylon, the original royal family of Ceylon had perished. Ceylon has existed as a Dutch colony for decades. Now that the ocean-going fleet has defeated the Dutch, it is legitimate to incorporate Ceylon into the territory of Daqin.
The population of Ceylon is not very large at present, with a total of about 300,000 people. The beliefs of the people are quite complex, with some believing in Hinduism, some in Brahmanism, and some in Buddhism. After the Dutch colonized Ceylon, a large number of people converted to Catholicism. There are relatively few people who believe in Islam.
In other words, to incorporate Ceylon into the territory of the Qin Empire, the issue of religion is not difficult to resolve. In addition, there are only more than 300,000 people in the area. As long as the birth rate of the local population is slightly controlled, as more people from the Qin Empire migrate to Ceylon, they will soon become the majority. On the other hand, the problem of different races can also be integrated through intermarriage. At the very least, we can use force to drive these 300,000 natives to the Indian continent. I believe that countries such as Otsa are willing to accept them, and are even willing to help the Qin Empire to eliminate the natives of Ceylon. "
In this era, for every country, population is actually the greatest resource. In wars among countries, population plunder is often one of the important purposes of war.
If the 300,000 natives on Ceylon were given to Otsa and other countries, they would definitely be very happy. I'm afraid even if they were asked to send their own troops to clear them out, they would be happy to do it.
Qin Mu suddenly thought of Japan. Japan has a large population, and has a spirit of hard work, good combat effectiveness, and high discipline. He could consider getting 10,000 or 20,000 vassal troops from Japan to do this kind of thing.
In Japan today, many samurai have become ronin because they cannot get support from the daimyo. With the help of Jing Zhengxue, many people have responded to his call. It is precisely because there are too many unemployed ronin that serious social contradictions have accumulated.
Therefore, it is not difficult to go to Japan and organize 10,000 or 20,000 samurai as a vassal army.
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ps: Here is the third update. There will be another update in the evening. I will make up for the chapters I owe you with the fourth update. Well, I am a person of good credit, hahaha! Please support me by subscribing, recommending, rewarding, and monthly tickets. I will be grateful for every support! (To be continued..)
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