Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 750: Preparing for War with a Rush of Troops and Ships
"If we want to fight a war, the first thing we need is money and food. As for food, the Minister of Agriculture has just said that I am very satisfied with the current inventory. As for money..." Zhu Youdong pondered for a moment and then turned to Li Guojun and said, "The bank will make a calculation. If an additional 1 billion banknotes are issued into the market next year, will it cause inflation?"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to calculate. I can answer this question with certainty right now. It will not cause inflation."
"Oh? What's the basis for this?"
"Your Majesty, the revenue of the court last year was 630 million. The agricultural tax, commercial tax, etc. of our Ming Dynasty are converted uniformly, which is basically 50% tax to 100%. So, roughly speaking, the GDP of our Ming Dynasty last year was between 3.2 billion and 3.5 billion, and the court only put 3 billion banknotes into the market last year, and stopped the entry of gold, silver and copper coins into the market. In other words, the new currency entering the market last year cannot completely buy all the new things produced in the country last year. Moreover, this is only domestic, and the banknotes of our Ming Dynasty are to be used in all vassal states, even in America. Therefore, issuing 1 billion banknotes next year will definitely not cause inflation."
"Well, then, Cao Sanxi, let's start with a budget of 1.6 billion for next year . 600 million for normal taxes, and 1 billion for new banknotes."
"As ordered. I would like to ask Your Majesty, how much should the military expenditure be increased? How should it be increased?"
"This." Zhu Youdong also took out a booklet from his arms: "My intention is that starting from next year, within three years, the army's ordinary infantry divisions will be expanded by another fifty divisions. That is to say, in the twenty-ninth year of Tianqi, I want to have one hundred divisions, one and a half million people. As for the special forces division, this type of troops is more about quality than quantity, so there is no need to expand it for the time being.
In terms of the navy, in addition to the four battleships originally scheduled in the previous five-year shipbuilding plan, which will be successfully commissioned in the next three years, I will add three more battleships. Well, these three battleships are new battleships newly designed by His Royal Highness King Lai, which use oil as fuel. The construction period is tentatively set at four years. In addition, starting from next year, all new heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, etc. will be converted to use oil as fuel. "
"Your Majesty, I am in charge of finance and I don't know much about technology. I know that oil can be burned. But can the oil directly extracted be used on board ships?"
"In theory, it is possible, but it is a waste. Heavy oil is enough to drive the ship forward. Gasoline and diesel should be extracted from the oil in advance. But I don't quite understand this. This is the work of the Chemical Laboratory of Fangshan Academy of Sciences. It is their progress in research in this area that has enabled His Royal Highness King Lai to redesign the warships to use oil as fuel."
"In that case, there will be more places where we need to spend money." He waved his hand and an official from the Ministry of Finance handed over the relevant information. Cao Sanxi took a quick look and said, "At present, the only oil field in the Ming Dynasty that has formed full production capacity is the Yanchang Oilfield in northern Shaanxi. Oh, yes, more than ten years ago, the emperor asked us to extend the Northeast Railway to Harawun, and we did find a large oil field there. But now there is no complete mining, refining, and transportation system there. There are also oil fields in Brunei and Java in Southeast Asia, but there is no complete production system there either..."
Zhu Youdong was also helpless about what Cao Sanxi mentioned: time travelers are not omnipotent. How could he have imagined that the petrochemical research of Fangshan Academy of Sciences had gone so far?
Originally, according to his plan, Ming would only need one or two small and medium-sized oil fields like Yanchang Oil Field . The oil produced by these oil fields would be used for experimental research by Fangshan Academy of Sciences and for the domestic plastics industry. As for using it as fuel, let's wait until the internal combustion engine is developed.
Who knew that the research results achieved by the scientists in Daming in this area were far beyond his imagination. At present, Fangshan Academy of Sciences has been able to refine petroleum to various degrees, and the heat and kinetic energy obtained by the products during the combustion process have exceeded that of coal.
In this case, why not use the fuel oil on board? Again, steam engines boil water. Burning fuel oil or burning coal is the same, isn't it? Moreover, the heat energy released by the same weight of fuel oil is much higher than that of coal - in this way, warships can run faster, have longer sea endurance, and save a lot of space for stacking coal.
Of course, it is simple in theory, but it is not easy to do in practice. Fuel oil involves the removal of oil impurities and the classification and refining of various types of oil. If the ship wants to change the fuel, it has to redesign the boiler and engine...
"Sanxi, didn't I just say that? The new warship will be launched at least four years later. So, it will take at least four years to start a new oil industry."
"I understand. After the meeting, I will work with the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Heavy Industry to come up with a plan as soon as possible."
"Okay, let me continue. Since the army needs to expand, it cannot just have people without weapons. Therefore, the four arsenals in Zunhua, Zhaoqing , Nanjing, and Chongqing need to expand their capacity. Um, Yuan Yingtai?"
"I am here."
"I remember that the four arsenals in Zunhua and other places have been continuously overstaffed over the years, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Therefore, although the four major arsenals have been operating in three shifts except during the conquest of India, they have been operating in one shift at other times. However, I still insist on having four shifts of workers and more apprentices in these four arsenals."
"The Ministry of Finance has allocated funds to purchase new land and equipment, build new factories, and expand the capacity of the four arsenals. Starting next year, the production capacity of each arsenal will be increased to more than three times the current level."
"Your Highness, I accept your order."
"As the arsenal expands its capacity, the shipyard must also expand its capacity. The production capacity of the four major shipyards in Changsha, Binhai, Zhaoqing, and Funing must be increased to more than three times the current level. I hope that after the current five-year shipbuilding plan is completed, the next shipbuilding plan will be more than three times the current one."
"Your Highness, I accept your order."
"Just now I only talked about expanding the army and increasing the capacity of armament production. But the economy and technology of my Ming Dynasty have developed to a considerable level today, and they are closely linked to each other. It is the so-called domino effect. Therefore, after today's meeting, Cao Sanxi, your Ministry of Finance will take the lead and work with relevant ministries to formulate a general implementation plan. In short, in the 29th year of Tianqi, I want to have more than 1.5 million land forces and more than ten battleships. At the same time, the number of men of appropriate age who have completed one year of military training in the reserve must reach at least 5 million. While achieving the above goals, I also need to maintain stability in the domestic economy and people's livelihood.
At the same time, the Propaganda Department should also formulate a propaganda plan for the next three years based on the tone of today's meeting. We need to make the people of the country gradually accept the reality that we have to fight a war, a big war."
"Your Highness obeys your order."
…
After the State Council meeting, Zhu Youdong called Zhu Youxiao, Zhu You (Muxue), Zhu Youjian, and the Crown Prince Zhu Ciyi and other royal family members. Then he took the lead and led everyone to slowly climb up Coal Hill and came to the crooked tree.
"Youjian, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Thank you for your concern, brother. I'm feeling a little uneasy right now, especially my neck, which is itchy."
"If you are fine, just hold on for a while. Big brother brought us here for a reason."
"Don't worry, brother. I can save it."
Zhu Youdong, who was walking in front, did not hear the murmurs of Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian. Even if he heard it, he could only smile helplessly: I can't expose myself.
When they reached the top of the mountain, the whole city of Beijing was in full view. Zhu Youdong slowly moved his finger forward for a while and said, "Everyone, this is Beijing, this is the world!
Forty years ago, I started school. Fortunately, my grandfather, the emperor, loved me and allowed me to participate in the maintenance of the machine at a young age. Since then, I know that there is a huge problem in my Ming Dynasty. If it cannot be solved in time, I am afraid that I will become the king of the country that has been destroyed! "
"My brother (father), your words are too kind."
"I really don't say that. It's just the truth." Turning around and motioning for everyone to find a place to sit down, Zhu Youdong said, "Forty years have passed. I have spent a full forty years to wipe out the Jiannu, revise the Yellow Book, lift the maritime ban, reform the tax system, official system, and military system, develop science and technology, and obtain raw material production areas and sales markets for my Ming Dynasty... In the past forty years, it can be said that except for the conquest of India, which was initiated by me, all other wars were done out of necessity.
Why is this so? That's because the Ming Dynasty is a huge country with a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. It is extremely difficult, tiring and time-consuming to improve such a country from the inside. Without enough time, many problems of the Ming Dynasty cannot be solved. Taking the initiative to attack the outside world when internal troubles have not been alleviated is not a long-term solution.
Nowadays, I have seen through many inspections and reports from officials, Jinyiwei, and Dongchang that although there are still many problems in the Ming Dynasty, such as corruption among officials, some people still cannot afford food and clothing, and some places are still relatively poor... But these no longer pose a big problem to the overall development direction of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that I have spent forty years to basically improve the internal strength of the Ming Dynasty. "
At this point, Zhu Youdong took out a letter from his arms: "This is a letter that Richelieu in Europe spent a lot of effort to pass on to me after many twists and turns. In this letter, Richelieu reported that since the European Union withdrew from Southeast Asia, its leader Philippe has determined in Europe to prepare for war in an all-out war and to fight the Ming Dynasty in three to five years."
"How brave of you, thief!"
"Brother, who has the Ming Dynasty ever been afraid of?"
"That's right. If the Western bandits dare to come, we will make sure they never return!"
"Based on the decision made by the Emperor today, I'm afraid we shouldn't wait for the Western bandits to come to us. Instead, should we fight them off first?"
"That's right." After nodding heavily, Zhu Youdong said, "In the past forty years, although I have faced many enemies, I have always been very clear in my heart that the Ming Dynasty has too many internal problems, and the focus of the country is to improve people's livelihood and win the hearts of the people. Therefore, many times, even if the foreign enemies are violent for a while, I did not invest the country's main resources in the military.
But now it is different. Now, it is time to let the whole world see how invincible and terrifying our Ming Dynasty is after entering a full-scale war state! "
