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Officials cooperated to make the high-end technology that had been controlled by the government for a long time available for civilian use. This was truly reaped the benefits in the practice of the Shipbuilding Bureau and the Ministry of Agriculture, so there was less resistance to its implementation.
The road construction plan proposed by Wei Yuan, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, was not so easy. Li Yuan said immediately: "Your Majesty, you must be cautious when building roads on a large scale. It has been a hundred years since Zhang Juzheng included labor service in taxes in the Ming Dynasty and we abolished it. If we impose labor service again now, the people will definitely complain.
If we don’t conscript, hiring all the workers will be a huge expense. In addition, the population has dropped drastically due to the wars in recent years. It will be detrimental to the recovery of people’s livelihood to devote a large amount of manpower to road construction.”
Wei Yuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, immediately retorted: "I do not agree with what Lord Li said. Since the construction of the Changsha-Kunming road, no labor has been imposed. The people along the way have benefited greatly.
As for the expenditure issue, I have already said that the bank has nearly 500 million dragon coins in deposits. Letting this huge amount of money lie dormant in the bank's vault is actually very detrimental to the economy of our Great Qin.
Furthermore, with the rise of Daqin's industry and commerce, the poor road transportation capacity has become a great constraint on industry and commerce, and the road conditions are in urgent need of improvement. The Ministry of Industry is actually considering this matter based on Daqin's actual situation. "
Li Yuan said: "The so-called free labor service means importing a large number of prisoners. Minister Wei, have you ever thought about this? The number of prisoners used on the road from Changsha to Kunming is now nearly 100,000. This does save money, but is there no hidden danger in this move
A few months ago, the prisoners rebelled. If it had not been suppressed in time, it would have almost caused a disaster. One hundred thousand prisoners is already worrying. If another one hundred thousand or even two hundred thousand were imported, it would be impossible to suppress it. Can you bear this responsibility?"
Nong Dianzhang also said: "Since ancient times, large-scale construction projects are most likely to lead to large-scale rebellions. Li Gelao's concerns are not unreasonable. I also think we should be cautious."
Most of the major projects of the Qin Dynasty now use prisoners. They do not need to be paid wages, just given some coarse grains to feed, so the expenditure is not large.
In addition, there is a large amount of free labor available in Southeast Asia, which is why the Ministry of Industry is so ambitious and wants to do a big job.
On the one hand, Qin Mu wanted to speed up the construction of Daqin's transportation in order to further boost economic development. On the other hand, he wanted to reduce the population of the indigenous people in Nanyang through this move so that the Han people could quickly occupy the majority in the future, so that he could control the Nanyang islands for a long time.
If the indigenous population of the South Pacific islands is reduced through bloody massacres, not only will the Qin Dynasty become more infamous, but it will also waste huge human resources.
Bringing the young and strong natives back to Daqin to build roads was a two-pronged approach.
Qin Mu pondered and said, "The natives of Nanyang have massacred our Han people many times. We have captured them and made them serve in road construction as a punishment. This is already the tolerance of our Great Qin towards them. As for the worry of rebellion, we must guard against it.
However, with the pacification of Qinghai-Tibet, southern and northern deserts, our Great Qin no longer needs to station so many troops in the northern border to reduce supply expenses. After the spring of the full-scale annihilation of the Qitate in Hetao, the northern border must have withdrawn a lot of troops.
These veteran soldiers, who are good at fighting, should be sent back to the Central Plains to guard the prisoners who are building the road. Li Qing is worried that too many prisoners will lead to rebellion, but I am not too worried.
However, the road construction needs to be carried out step by step and within one's capabilities, and one should not rush for quick results. It is true that there is money in the bank, but I want to emphasize again that it is not the court's money.
The court can borrow money from banks, but first of all, it must consider its ability to repay. Otherwise, if the court is unable to repay on time, it will inevitably cause panic among the people, which will bring down the bank. "
Wei Yuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, replied: "Your Majesty, rest assured. The Ministry of Works has already taken this into consideration. According to the Ministry of Revenue's revenue and expenditure data this year, the annual tax revenue of the Qin Dynasty has reached 64 million dragon coins this year. If the additional income from war spoils is included, the annual revenue has exceeded 100 million..."
Yang Chao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, could no longer sit still and immediately interrupted Wei Yuan, saying, "Minister Wei, this year's annual income is over 100 million, including the spoils of war. However, with the participation of more than 100,000 troops from the northwest, the logistics supply, weapons and equipment, rewards and pensions for the soldiers, these few expenses alone exceed 30 million dragon coins, and..."
"Minister Yang, please calm down and listen to what I have to say. The spoils of war can be ignored, but with the rapid recovery of the people's livelihood in Daqin, and the vigorous development of industry, commerce and overseas trade, Daqin's tax revenue alone will reach 100 million in one or two years. This is not a problem, right
As the northern border is gradually pacified, the war expenses, which currently account for the bulk of the court's expenditures, will be greatly reduced. In this way, the treasury will definitely have a large surplus every year. If this cannot be achieved, I will be the first to submit a petition to impeach the officials of the Ministry of Revenue."
In fact, in the early years of the founding of the country, as people's livelihood recovered, the treasury basically had a surplus. In terms of the economy, the Qin Dynasty was incomparable to previous dynasties because Qin Mu introduced many new concepts and vigorously encouraged industry and commerce, let alone a surplus.
Therefore, Yang Chao did not refute Wei Yuan's words. The Ministry of Revenue's own estimate was that within two years, the annual revenue would easily exceed 100 million.
Wei Yuan continued, "The Ministry of Works plans to borrow 10 million dragon coins from the bank every year for road construction. Your Majesty, I believe that the Ministry of Revenue can directly spend 10 million dragon coins without any problem, not to mention that it can be repaid in installments.
If the repayment is spread over ten years, for every 10 million dragon coins loaned, the Ministry of Revenue actually only needs to repay 1 million dragon coins per year, and with interest, it won't be much more. With the national strength of the Qin Dynasty, if the annual loan is 1 million dragon coins, the total annual loan repayment after ten years will only be 10 million dragon coins. How can it bring down the national treasury
The investment in road construction can drive economic development. After the roads are built, the role they play in the development of the national economy and people's livelihood is immeasurable. At the same time, the improvement of transportation is also conducive to local stability, the deployment of troops, and the reduction of the number of garrisons in various places..."
Wei Yuan kept promoting the benefits of road construction, which saved Qin Mu a lot of effort. Under his influence, officials at all levels were more open-minded and pioneering, which Qin Mu was very pleased about.
Qin Mu asked calmly, "What do you think of what Minister Wei said?"
In fact, all the ministers in the palace could guess that the emperor supported road construction.
Yang Chao first stated: "Your Majesty, if the loan amount is limited to 10 million dragon coins per year, I will not object, but it cannot be more than that."
It sounds like Yang Chao is just like an auntie selling vegetables in the market, but an official from the Ministry of Revenue really needs to be so haggling.
Sima An said, "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. I think it would be better to let the Ministry of Works submit a detailed plan first, and then let the officials in the court discuss it together before making a decision."
Qin Mu can make the final decision by force, but some things are better off being too much or too little. Moreover, if the ministers of various departments discuss the matter together and work together, some human omissions can be avoided.
"That's it, then. Wei Qing, have the Ministry of Industry prepare a detailed plan as soon as possible and submit it to the ministers of various ministries for discussion."
"I obey your order."
After the court meeting, Qin Mu had just left the hall when Huang Lianshan caught up with him and reported: "Your Majesty, there is good news from Mo Nan. Norbu has been captured."
"Hahaha, that's right. Let Ma Yongzhen and Meng Ke take advantage of this winter to strengthen the integration of the troops from various factions."
The so-called integration is actually brainwashing. Previously, Meng Ke and Ma Yongzhen reorganized tens of thousands of troops from various tribes in the south of the desert in the name of encircling and suppressing Norbu. These troops will definitely not be returned to the tribes.
After brainwashing them this winter, they will be sent to suppress the Qitate in Hetao in the early spring of next year. After defeating the Qitate, they will go on an expedition to the Western Regions. This is a disguised form of conscription.
Qin Mu thought about it and felt that it was necessary to hold another hunting event. Next year, he would invite the leaders of the tribes south of the desert and the Qinghai-Tibet tribes, and use Qitate as the prey to demonstrate the military strength of the Qin Dynasty.
This will play a significant role in deterring the various tribes and stabilizing the situation in southern Mobei and Qinghai-Tibet.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the annual grand hunting in Mulan Paddock played a very positive role in politics. Qin Mu intended to emulate this, otherwise there would be endless rebellions on the border and it would be difficult for the country to be at peace.
Qin Mu did what he said and immediately summoned internal ministers to discuss the matter.
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.(To be continued..)
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