The ending of Japan was settled after Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's death. Although Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, who was shot four times after being assassinated that day, did not die immediately. After returning to the imperial office, he summoned several Nobuki people to entrust their funerals, but everything was useless because this man who spent ten years to establish a centralized rule had no offspring and had to find a suitable person to inherit from his close relatives. He played too much balance and restricted political games during his lifetime, and the relationship between important officials was not good.

For the Tokugawa shogunate, the luckiest thing is that the Empire's support for Shimazu Kokuha to become a general was just a beautiful lie. Without the endorsement of the Empire, Shimazu Kokuha obviously could not unite with sufficient allies. One day after Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's death, another news came from Edo Castle that the assassin belonged to the Shimazu family. After this news spread, several important officials of Tsunayoshi could not control the situation. The samurai shouted for revenge, and some wanted to use war to compete for power. When no one contributed to peace, the war would definitely break out.

Tsunayoshi died in June of the eighth year of the empire. This was a very suitable time. If you want to transport food to Japan, you can only look north. The four appeasement zones of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Ningguta and the Liaoning Province became in short supply. The profits made by transporting these foods to Japan were far higher than those handed over to the local official warehouse. Therefore, when the autumn grain was still in the field, its owner had already begun to change his mind.

It’s not that the empire does not want food, but that the Shangtun farmers do not want to hand over food. Japan’s war requires not only food, but also weapons. Li Junhua controlled the empire’s arsenal through anti-corruption, and the Lifanyuan also stood on his side. Whether he could get a large number of war horses and firearms depends entirely on the words of the prince, and these chips could be exchanged with the Shangtun farmers. At the same time, the settlement authority of several appeasement zones in the northwest was also solved by the Yunzhong appeasement zone. When most Shangtun farmers chose to trade with the prince, the rest became loaches that could not make waves. If they were to find reasons to catch one or two, kill the chicken to warn the monkey, everything would be settled.

Li Mingxun watched coldly as the prince was watching everything he was doing in cleaning up Shangtun, and had only a default attitude towards all his behaviors, even if he took the initiative to provoke a civil war in Japan. In fact, Li Mingxun was much happier than he seemed. He provoked a civil war in Japan, transferred domestic conflicts, and moved disasters eastward. This shameless behavior is the art of politics. This at least proves that the prince was not as gentle as he usually looked, nor did he have the legendary moral cleanliness. He was a qualified heir.

It is precisely because of this that Li Mingxun used a reproachful tone in his letter to Hayuan Tian Bingei, and did his job perfectly for the prince.

After the outbreak of the Japanese civil war, Li Mingxun issued several imperial edicts, demonstrating the Empire's status in this war. He sent a small number of marines to the Japanese autonomous cities where several Chinese gathered to show the protection of the imperial expatriates. Second, he sent additional fleets to cities near Japan such as Ryukyu, Jeju, Vladivostok, and other cities near Japan, ready to intervene or evacuate overseas Chinese at any time. Third, he set up the Fourth Marine Brigade stationed in Taipei, Penghu and other places as the first batch of disarmament troops.

Obviously, the last item is the last one, which means that the empire will not directly send troops to Japan. It will not choose to support either side, at least not for now.

This is what the imperial merchants are willing to see. They hope that Japan will enter a state of war again, and all parties will make their brains so that they can do business on both sides, bet on both sides, and make money on both sides.

Unlike Li Junhua's success in cleaning up the Shang Village, the British King's disarmament was rare. It was just a matter of the amount of standing troops. The British King's Disarmament Committee had been arguing with the cabinet for more than half a year. The British King's intention was to maintain a scale of at least 800,000, while the cabinet believed that 600,000 was enough. Obviously, the dispute lies not only in the amount of fiscal investment, but also in the difficulty of disarmament.

In this issue, Li Mingxun still prefers the cabinet. The reason is that the empire still has more than 200,000 standing troops that do not spend money, namely the banner assistants in the appeasement zone under the Lifanyuan. Each assistant leader must ensure that there are fifty armored soldiers and one hundred auxiliary soldiers. These are similar to military households and do not have to pay any money.

It was not until the outbreak of the Japanese civil war that the disarmament process began to accelerate. Although the biggest beneficiary of the Japanese civil war was the prince, he knew that the prince was a small circle. Li Jundu happened to be the person in this circle. He knew very well that this masterpiece had won his brother a great favor from his father, and he also knew that because of this, he did not perform as well as the prince in his father.

But the outbreak of the Japanese civil war is also a good thing for disarmament. First of all, the military factories have obtained huge orders again, which means that in two or three years, this part will not need to be cut, which reduces a lot of pressure on disarmament work. Because the Northern Expedition hoarded military equipment and supplies in various appeasement zones and ports, all of them have their destinations. The military has paid the bills and took them out as net profits, which can be used for disarmament matters. More importantly, because of the Japanese civil war, the prince easily cleared the Shangtou and did not consume too much money. This part of the money can also be diverted for disarmament, and the Congress and the Cabinet can also allocate more resources.

When Li Jundu arrived at the imperial study, the emperor was wandering around a sand table. It was a model of Shenjing New City. The exquisite model vividly showed various layouts. The imperial city naturally occupied an important part, and the five royal palaces were also very eye-catching.

"The boss is here. It happened that Shin Kyung sent it. Look at these royal palaces. You can choose one first." Li Mingxun called his son over and said generously.

"Let the lord choose first. The father and emperor's palace are all based on the father's palace." Li Jundu said modestly.

Li Mingxun nodded: "It's good, it's about the same size anyway. I'll pick you a little closer to the imperial city."

"Thank you for your kindness," Li Jundu hurriedly thanked him.

Li Mingxun's eyes were inseparable from the model. When he served tea, he saw that Li Jundu had official documents in his hand, so he asked: "What's the matter."

Li Jundu then said, "It's a matter of disarmament."

Li Mingxun picked up a model of a palace and played with it, and asked casually: "You have finished arguing with the Congress and the cabinet, how many are you left?"

Li Jundu shook his head: "It's still not certain, but I thought of a way to achieve the best of both worlds. If it can be done, it will be useful to keep 600,000."

"Oh, then you can talk about it, come and serve tea to King Ying." Li Mingxun greeted.

Seeing that the emperor was determined to rush on the sand table, Li Jundu put the official documents aside and introduced himself: "My son has reduced the number of military academys recruited this year by half. The officers who have been enrolled and have less than two years of school age have been transferred to the public security officer school in the Public Security Department. Then, the generals who are disabled, sick and over fifty years old and the school officials in the military have been handed over to the military post. Then, according to the size of military merit, a batch of retained numbers are determined and outstanding officers are selected to remain."

"How do you choose?" Li Mingxun asked after taking a sip of tea.

Li Jundu said: "It's better to let them apply for retirement and transfer to their own business. State-owned enterprises and administrative units need these talents. Those who are motivated can join colonial companies or go to the colony. Erchen has already set up several levels according to their service age and military rank, and then put the positions they can choose, first apply first, and then apply later. At present, the effect is not bad. After these few moves, the officers can be cut off by 70% and eighteen, and the rest will have to use some thunder means. But Erchen thinks that the reduction of officers is not a big problem. Erchen is talking about soldiers."

Li Mingxun nodded, he was very satisfied with the methods of laying down officers. He said, "I know the concerns of your request to keep 800,000 permanent troops. You are always afraid that wars will occur in the northwest and Tibet. It is a good thing to plan ahead. The cabinet and the Congress have different ideas from you. In their opinion, these two places have surrendered. As long as the empire does not provoke trouble, there will be no trouble. Even if there is something, it is a small matter. Even if it is not a small matter, it may not be necessary for the army. Even if it is a military force, it may not be necessary."

"Yes, the father saw through their virtues at a glance, and the sons felt inferior to themselves." Li Jundu said with his head down.

Li Mingxun pushed the tea he brought in and said, "Tell me about your best in both worlds."

Li Jundu said: "The father founded the Army and Navy in his early years and was very familiar with the affairs in the military. With the current tactics and organization of the Imperial Navy, the soldiers need to be well-trained. If they recruit soldiers in the battle, they must have more than half a year of training before they can barely meet the standards. After all, most of the soldiers are from rural areas and do not know the flag or discipline. My son thought that if there was a way to do so, they could put some soldiers in an organized state without spending money. If necessary, a little training and integration can be sent to the battlefield...."

Li Mingxun nodded after hearing this, and Li Jundu said again: "Father, the Cabinet and Congress have to disarmament. To put it bluntly, it is to reduce expenditures and reduce military spending to reduce financial pressure. If the army can support itself, then......"

"The army cannot do business, this is a rule for many years." Li Mingxun knocked on the table and said.

It is an iron law for the army to not be able to do business. After the empire established its tax system, this rule has been well implemented. Many people think that the army cannot do business is just a corruption of the army. In fact, it is not the case. The most important reason why the army cannot do business is that if the army can do business, there will be no business for merchants. The army is rich, soldiers, guns and cannons, and merchants cannons can not compete at all and dare not compete with it.

"No, my son is not letting the army do business, but trying to let the army support itself." Li Jundu quickly changed his words.

Li Mingxun said: "Are you talking about military camp?"

"Military camps are only one aspect, and a small part. You know, the military camps are often located in remote areas, and the income from settlement cannot be converted into money, and they are still losing money. After all, a large number of projects are handed over to private organizations every year. This money must be spent, so why can't it be spent on the army, or simply not use these as military but as state-owned enterprises.

The father should be clear that it is much easier to set up an army and train workers into an army than to train farmers into an army. At least they can accept orders and discipline and become accustomed to collective life." Li Jundu said.

Li Mingxun listened carefully, and the more he listened, the more he felt that this method was very good. The imperial army was not a world military system, but a typical mercenary. He first used short-term contracts to gather people, and after the training was completed, he signed a long-term employment contract, which was usually four or six years. The soldiers also had a non-commissioned promotion system, and they could renew their contracts for a longer time if they became non-commissioned officers.

Anyway, the soldiers are in their own hands, so they can only act according to the orders, let them receive training and prepare for war, defend the border, and let them pick up hammers and shovels, build bridges and pave roads. That is, change the number and change from the army to the state-owned enterprise. Next, they can hand the left hand to the right hand, the royal family, state-owned enterprises and administrative units to have a large number of projects every year, which can be handed over to these construction corps to undertake, so as to support the soldiers.

Even if this method is not very meaningful in the end, it doesn’t matter. At most, the contracts of these soldiers expire, and they can be disbanded and returned home, and the disarmament will be completed. The next step is to lay off non-commissioned officers, which will be much easier.

If the construction legion is converted, there is no need to pay too much severance fees during the process of layoffs, and the financial pressure is much less. Soldiers can also learn a skill, so they will not be able to do anything well for a few years in the army except to learn to kill people.

"You can try it, first choose some of the army to do a pilot, and see the reaction, oh, by the way, the Academy of Sciences has already taken out the first batch of steam locomotive prototypes, which are being tested outside the city. The cabinet and Congress have already said hello, so you can lay the lines first and try to run them.

Congress always wanted to lay the route from Nanjing to Shenjing first, but there were too many bridges along the way, for fear that the bridge would not meet the standards. I thought about it, lay the route from Beijing to Tianjin first, and most of the troops to be cut are in the north. You can take this experiment first, and set up a railway construction company to turn soldiers into road construction workers." Li Mingxun thought about it and gave Li Jundu an idea.

Li Jundu was extremely happy, which meant that the emperor was willing to negotiate with the Congress and the cabinet. Although he did not directly participate in the disarmament, it was better than he could speak from a distance.

"You should hurry up with the matter of disarmament. If the army in the north is unstable, I dare not go to Shenjing to be the emperor. Everyone said that the emperor was guarding the country's gates in the Ming Dynasty, but they didn't know that Zhu Ming placed the capital in the north just to capture the strongest army, which was no different from the Song Dynasty." Li Mingxun mentioned.
Chapter completed!